Avenger
by fuzzi fox
Summary: After her brush with death, the dead are able to communicate with Meg. Hades discovers this and decides to use it to his benefit. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Here's my new fanfic, I hope you like it. I'm abandoning my other one because it had no plot and in all truth was rather aweful. This one actually has a plot. **

**Disclaimer:** All characters are property of the Disney corporation.**  
**

**Summary:** After being brought back to life, Meg retained a link to the dead. After moving in with Hercules the dead begin to try and communicate with her. First she beleives they are just dreams until they evolve into nightmares. It isn't long until the dead are able to carry out unfinished business, and avenge their deaths through her. Hades finds out about this way to manipulate Meg without her knowledge, and decides to use this against Herc, forcing him to fight her.

**Rating**: PG-13 for now because of languge.

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The sound of Meg retching in the bathroom was enough to make Herc's head throb worse. He groaned, massaging his temples asking himself why the hell he drank so much. He forced his eyes open, feeling somewhat bad. He could just make out her blurry form kneeling in front of the toilet. She retched again, and his hands immediately rubbed roughly at his face. The celebration over Hercules's triumph over Hades had been the greatest celebration Greece had seen in many decades, and now they were reaping the rewards.

It only took a few minutes however, for Hercules migraine to settle into nothing worse than a bad headache. He frowned a bit as he heard Meg groan before sitting back, rubbing her head. He got up cautiously and went to the doorway of the bathroom,

"You okay in here?"

"Ah Gods I can feel your voice in my _eyes_." for a moment she thought she was going to be sick again but the moment passed. She managed to get to her feet, bracing herself against the wall, her other hand pressed firmly against the side of her head as if she was trying to push the headache out. Trudging towards the bedroom Hercules offered her a shy hand, feeling like he should help her. Meg took it mutely, letting him guide her back to the bed where she collapsed, her legs still hanging off the edge of the bed which she pulled up with exaggerated effort.

"I'll let you rest," Herc said as quietly as he could manage. He crept out of the room, making his way downstairs to the kitchen. He boiled some water for tea and oatmeal, hoping to ease his headache. Meanwhile upstairs, Meg managed to fall back asleep, but she couldn't stay asleep for long. A sigh escaped her lips, her head still throbbing. She considered for a moment staying in bed but got up, realizing the only way to help her hangover would be to get something in her stomach. Downstairs she found Herc who was still sitting at the table with his empty bowl and teacup in front of him, and the news scroll in his hands. Noticing her enter he looked up from the scroll,

"Feeling any better?" He asked, his own headache having cleared. She stared at him blearily for a few seconds before shaking her head mutely. She sat down at the table, setting her head down with a thud. Noting the look on Herc's face she gave a weak smile, forcing herself to sit up.

"I'm fine, just a bad hangover." She explained. "I just need a chaser," the blank stare Meg got in return made her chuckle a little, Herc really was as naive as he seemed. "A drink with a little bit of alcohol in it."

"Won't that just make things worse?" He asked, furrowing his brows.

"No. I don't really know why but it's a good chaser. Do you have anything here?"

"Just some wine." Meg sighed at this, that wouldn't do.

"I'll just have something to eat then." she resolved.

"I'll make you some tea too." Herc smiled as he got up. After a moment he realized he had absolutely no idea what she liked to eat. "Umm… what would you like to eat?"

"Something I wont throw up… do you have just toast or oatmeal?"

"Yeah." Herc smiled again, gathering what he needed and getting a fire started to boil some water. He sat back down at the table while he waited and reached over the table to grasp Meg's hand, rubbing his thumb across the backs of her fingers. This drew a smile from her and she brought her other hand up over his.

"How are you feeling though? You drank a lot too."

"I had a bad headache earlier but it went away."

"You're the lucky one…" Her free hand massaged her forehead. "I just want to go crawl back into bed… is that water boiling yet?"

"I just put it on the water on fire, it'll be a few minutes." Herc grimaced. In response Meg just let her head fall onto the table with another loud thud. Herc furrowed his brows at her, wishing he knew what to do to help her hangover.

They sat silently for a few more minutes before the water began to boil, and Herc used it to make the oatmeal and a cup of tea for Meg. He looked for something to put into the tea for her, but found that his cabinets were rather bare. He had yet to shop for a while.

"Here," Meg looked up as Herc placed the cup and the plate before her. Just the sight of food make her queasy but she knew she would feel better if she ate something and more importantly had something to drink. "Sorry I don't have anything to help with the headache." he explained shyly.

"Its okay its just a hangover," after a short pause, "and thank you." She gave a sad chuckle, "this is the first time someone has made breakfast for me in a long time." Herc returned her smile and took his seat at the table again. Meg couldn't believe the sudden change of things. Just the morning before she had been Hades' wench forced to try and betray the man she loved. Now this morning she was sitting at a cedar table in a marble kitchen, sitting across from the sweetest man she had ever met. It seemed unreal to her. The night before was still a blur, she couldn't believe that Herc took her in to live with him.

_Hercules leaned over the railing of the veranda, a glass in his hand staring out at the dark city dimly light under the starlight of the new constellation. Meg walked outside, finding her hero standing by the railing. She left the loud sounds of the party behind her as she approached him._

_"Hey there wonder boy." She smiled, also holding a glass in her hand. He turned, his eyes focusing on her and a broad smile broke out on his face._

_"Hey." Meg almost chuckled when she saw how bright red his cheeks were flushing when she felt the heat of her own cheeks and realized she was blushing as well; though she wasn't sure if it was due to the fact she was growing tipsy. The night had been the most intense night either of them had ever experienced, both the best and worst had happened to them._

_"E-enjoying the party?" Herc stammered. There was so much he wanted to talk to her about, especially after all that had happened but he couldn't seem to bring himself to actually ask what he wanted to._

_"I'm having a really good time. What about you?" _

_"Yup!" He answered enthusiastically. Walking over to him, she leaned on the railing next to him. He had bathed earlier, she could just make out the vague lingering scents of the bath oils on him. She tilted her head, leaning a little against his chest. She felt his arm wrap around her shoulder and she sighed contently, closing her eyes for a moment. Herc took a deep breath, managing to gather up a little courage._

_"Meg… where… umm… well… do you have a place to go…?" The question came with difficulty. Meg paused now, she hadn't considered that complication. She didn't belong to Hades anymore and the underworld had been her home for nearly three years and she had no family to speak of. _

_"Nowhere I guess." She furrowed her brows, feeling embarrassed at having to admit that she had nowhere to go now that she was free of that sadistic deity. As much as she despised him with every fiber of her entire being she had actually relied on him. The thought alone made her shudder._

_"Then… you should stay here at the villa… with me." He bit his lip nervously, feeling like he was being too forward. _

_"Really? I really would appreciate it… I mean… I'd love to stay with you." She was surprised that she had difficulty articulating herself. She relaxed however, once she saw that he didn't seem to notice her awkwardness. "Thank you." _

Meg ate slowly, her mind juggling the events of the past few days. Things also seemed like a drastic change for Hercules as well. He always felt like an outcast, and now had a stronger sense of belonging. Once finished eating Meg got up to wash the dishes when Herc approached her and took the dishes from her hands,

"I'll take care of these for you."

"They're just dishes I can handle that," Her protest was useless however, as he just grinned at her and placed the dishes in the sink; Meg just shook her head with a smirk. lightly. "I still have a headache. I'm going to go lay down." Her massaged her head, the oatmeal and tea had done very little to help. Hercules frowned a little,

"Can I umm… is there anything you need?" He asked. Meg just shook her head,

"Wonderboy I'm fine." She couldn't help but laugh lightly now, despite how much it made her headache worse. "I've had hangovers before."

"Well, at least let me bring you upstairs," Hercules replied, lifting her up into his arms without effort. Meg was sure that if she protested he wouldn't let her down anyway, so she let him carry her up the stairs. In truth she didn't want to protest.

Herc placed her gently on the bed, helping tuck her into the blankets as she sank into the pillows. He smiled at her, leaning down to give her a soft kiss before standing back up.

"I hope you feel better." Meg nodded mutely, burying her face into the pillow to block out what light was still filtering through the curtains which were still closed over the windows. Downstairs Hercules settled on the couch of the den, picking up the Iliad which rested on the end table. He tried to read, but found that he couldn't seem to focus. He found himself glancing back at the stairs constantly. He couldn't help but feel jittery. Just thinking about everything that had happened the day before almost brought his headache back. He had stopped cosmic take-over, maintaining the balance of power among the Gods. The woman he loved moved in with him. _Meg._ He glanced over at the stairs again, finding himself gnawing at what was left of his stubby thumbnail. He wondered what it would be like living with her. Especially after Phil had been his last roommate. Meg's mind however, was caught deep in a dream-filled slumber.

_Meg was startled when someone grabbed her arm. She spun around and saw a pale woman standing before her, who appeared rather beaten. _

_"That damn alcoholic. You have to stop him! He can't get away with it." The woman had a bottle of rum clutched tightly in her hand, and smelled strongly of alcohol too. Backing away from her for a moment she held one of her hands up,_

_"Look… lady,"_

_"Gods Damn it!" She screamed, stomping her foot, "Listen to me! That alcoholic bastard has to be stopped! Get that worthless fool!" She slammed the bottle down by Meg's feet, sloshing the heavy smelling liquid on her feet and the hem of her dress. The smell alone made her feel queasy with how she already felt. She took another few steps back when the enraged woman came closer._

_"I said he has to be stopped!" She swung her fist, landing hard against Meg's cheekbone._

She rubbed her cheek blearily, barely registering that she was awake and that her cheek was fine. Her head began to throb instantly but it wasn't as bad as earlier, but she just sighed and let herself bury her face into the pillow, asking why she had to dream about an alcoholic woman throwing rum at her when she was trying to get over the hangover from hell.


	2. Phil's Visit

Here's chapter 2, hope you enjoy )

**Chapter 2**

It wasn't until late in the afternoon when Meg finally pulled herself out of bed, satisfied that her headache had dulled enough for her to properly function. She had drifted in and out of sleep, plagued by the same dream repeatedly. Traveling downstairs she searched for Herc, but could not seem to find him. She frowned a bit, passing it off to the fact that Phil had most likely dragged him away until she heard the door in the kitchen open, and Herc emerged into the den where Meg had made herself comfortable on an armchair.

"Oh! You're up. Feeling better?" Meg winced at how loud he shouted, finding that her headache was still pretty bad.

"A little, I still have a headache" She replied quietly, rubbing her temples a little. "Doesn't help that I kept dreaming about this weird woman throwing rum at me," Herc chuckled and cautiously sat next to her.

"Probably because we overdid it last night." He offered. Meg sighed deeply, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Even when I dream I can't get over this hangover" She laughed, smiling as she felt Herc slide his arm around her shoulders. "I'll be fine tomorrow though." She slid one of her arms around his waist, the other she lifted up, coiling her fingers with his free hand. Closing her eyes she sighed, contemplating going back to sleep again.

"Still tired?"

"No, just relaxed." She replied, finding that she was surprisingly comfortable despite her headache. "What time is it anyway?"

"Well when I was outside the sundial said it was about four in the afternoon. You've been asleep almost all day!"

"Ick, I hate when I do that. But Gods my head is just killing me, at least my stomach isn't as rebellious as it was this morning." She rolled her eyes at the mere thought. "You're the lucky one, you got off scotch-free!"

"Not entirely, I had a headache this morning."

"Yeah but you didn't throw up and you were dandy by breakfast."

"Speaking of food, would you like a late lunch… early dinner….type meal?"

"I just woke up. Maybe in a little while." She replied, lifting her head from his shoulder, brushing her fingers against his chin, her thumb tracing just below his lip. She could feel the heat of his blush as his cheeks turned bright crimson and she couldn't help but chuckle to herself. She closed her eyes as he leaned forward to kiss her forehead. She tilted her head back some so that his lips met hers, and slid her hand up to run through his hair. "For now… lets just relax. Yesterday was a really intense day. Take it easy." She added in a whisper, her lips still close enough to his that she could feel the heat of his breath.

"Yeah…" Herc replied, his mind swimming. So much had happened, he could still barely grasp it. He was drawn from his thoughts when he felt her kissing him again, and took her hands in his for a moment before sliding his arms around her shoulders. "I… I love you." He stuttered shyly, his cheeks blushing as he said it causing Meg to giggle a little.

"I love you too…" She smiled, sighing a bit as she relaxed back into the couch. Herc sat back as well, fiddling with his thumbs nervously, his fidgeting not going unnoticed. Looking at him through the corner of her eyes Meg smiled again, thinking how adorable his nervousness made him. She was about to open her mouth to ask him how his headache was doing when her own headache throbbed when Phil pounded on the front door, the sound echoing off the walls of the large room. "I bet that's Phil" Herc all but groaned, getting up and making his way to the door, opening it to find his suspicion was true.

"Kid! Did you see today's scroll? You're all ova' it kid! You can't buy this kinda' publicity!" He was barely in the door when his excited sputtering began. Thrusting the news scroll at the hero. Her curiosity piqued Meg joined the duo by the door, peering over Hercules' shoulder.

"What's it say?" Before either of them could read it, Phil tore the scroll back , his stubby little finger tapping madly at it:

"Cosmos Saved! Last night our great hero fought the battle of a lifetime! All existence was on the line. Mount Olympus itself alive with fire and ice! As downtown Thebes was tossed like children's blocks our Hero emerged through the rubble with his chin high! The battle started off rough as he was thrown from his feet from the start! But this did not deter our great hero! He fought killing the beast!" Phil smiled, beaming with pride. "It just goes on and on! You're a bigger hero than eva' kid! Already I'm getting' calls from Kings wantin' to meet ya, four gyms want you to be a motivational speaking, and the Spartan army wants you to help with trainin' the troops! You gots yourself another full schedule kid!" He continued in his tangent, pacing back and forth tapping at the scroll.

"Phil,"

"-Gotta tease 'em is what you gots to do! Train da' troops for just a few weeks get 'em rowled for battle! Then-"

"Phil!"

"-to the gyms! They're idolizing you kid! They wanna' know you're techniques! Every boy who can walk wants to be you!"

"Phil!!" Herc finally shouted loud enough to interrupt Phil's endless banter. "Slow down. How about I get some tea boiling, we can chat in the kitchen."

"Okay kid, but we gots a lot to cover! I have gots so much work to do! Everyone wants to see ya! I gotta work in what times, prioritize, the next few weeks are gonna be-a-hoppin'!" He clapped his little hands excitedly, re-reading the starting headline again, then turned to Meg "Even gots a bit a' you in here! Herc this'll be great for ya to be seen 'round her!"

"Phil, she's not a publicity stunt…" Herc's protest was lost as Phil ignored the comment and continued,

"Gotta do a press release soon! Everyone is dyin' to know the girl they saw save the hero that saved the Cosmos!"

"Phil…" Herc groaned again, slapping a hand against his forehead. Meg meanwhile, was not far behind the other two following them into the kitchen, her arms folded across her chest.; Phil's rather loud rambling was making her headache worsen. _Damn hangover_she thought bitterly.

"Herc I'm gonna go relax upstairs while you talk with Phil."

"Oh. Okay." He seemed saddened by this, and the kicked-puppy look on his face made it obvious he didn't want to deal with Phil that morning.

"Sorry Herc, just listening to Phil talk about your publicity stuff doesn't interest me. Just… don't let him keep you too busy, 'kay?" Phil continued to walk into the kitchen as Herc stayed with Meg near the doorway for a moment longer.

"Yeah… I'll try…" He frowned. Smiling mildly, Meg stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.

"I just wanna make sure between all these things you have to go to I'll get to see you once in a while." With a lopsided smile she stroked his cheek, and turned to head upstairs where she would be able to drown out Phil's obnoxiously loud voice. As she left the room Hercules frowned, feeling guilty all of a sudden. He was used to being at publicity stunts and various meetings all the time, but now Meg was living with him, he had new responsibilities now to try and balance.


	3. Nightmare

**Chapter 3**

Hercules watched Meg disappear through the doorway before turning to join Phil in the kitchen, who was still so caught up in his rambling he didn't seem to notice Herc's brief absence.

"Phil, slow down! Let's start from the beginning…" He sighed. This was the part of the job he hated most.

"Okay okay. First, lets list everythin' you've gotten offers for kid! Train the troops in Sparta, show up at the opening of the Pomegranates, a new diner serving 'food so great its worthy of the Gods!'. Gold's Gym wants you there for its opening, that guy is having trouble with his stables again, then they wants ya' to pose so they can get the plans started on replacing the statue of you the Cyclops kicked over." Herc groaned, rubbing his face roughly.

"I don't want to dedicate my life to this publicity crap." He groaned. "We've been over this before…"

"Yeah but kid this is _huge_! Ain't nothing' like this is gonna come around again"

While the pair argued downstairs, Meg ventured to the second floor and decided to explore a little. She had only seen the master bedroom, the attached lavatory, the den and the kitchen. The hallway was long, and a maroon carpet lined down to the end. There were several room, which seemed to serve no real purpose other than storage for the Herc's hero memorabilia. Curious, she ventured into one of the rooms and began to admire some of the things in there, chuckling to herself.

There were countless lockets, no doubt given to him by his various groupies. The great hero was too kindly to offend the girls by throwing out the gifts they bestowed unto him. Littered on the ground were various trophies, and she picked one up. It was generic looking, a golden goblet on a marble plate, engraved "First Place -Thebes lamb sausage eating contest" She laughed at this,

"Oh Wonderboy! And eating contest, of all things!" She smirked, planning on giving him a hard time about it later. She explored the room for a short while before continuing on to other rooms, none more exciting than the last. But she found it nice to learn more about her Hero, especially the items that were sure to have an embarrassing story behind them like the various eating contest medals. She hadn't had much time to explore most of the rooms when she heard her name called near the staircase. Poking her head out, almost comically, she saw Herc peer into the master bedroom looking for her. "Looking for me?" She called out, slinking out into the hallway and approaching him.

"Yeah. Was checking if you had gone back to sleep… how's you're headache?" The way he rubbed his neck betrayed his nervousness and Meg couldn't help but smile.

"Better. I'm assuming you're headache is worse after your scheduling session with Phil?"

"It always does…"

"Well, I know how to cheer you up," Herc looked at her curiously, and was caught off guard when she stood on her toes and kissed him. His blush made Meg laugh a little, finding his innocence amusing. "So how long are you going to be away?"

"Oh… well… I managed to talk Phil out of going to Sparta for more than a day, instead of helping them train I'm only going to try and motivate them against the Persian army. I have two store openings, then a couple miscellaneous things." He blushed again, "I made sure I'd have time… to… y'know... spend, with… you." This drew another laugh from Meg, who again stood on her toes to place a kiss on his cheek.

"You did good wonder boy."

"Do… you want some lunch now? Phil went home to finish the scheduling stuff."

"Yeah, lunch sounds good." The couple went to the kitchen, Meg sitting at the table while Herc went through the cabinets.

"What do you want?" He asked, still knowing very little about her likes and dislikes.

"Anything really. Surprise me," She smiled at him, getting one in return as Herc got excited to show off his cooking skills. Meg watched him with a smile tugging at her lips, finding his eagerness absolutely adorable. It didn't take long to prepare a simple stir-fry made from leftovers in the ice box and Herc placed a plate for Meg before sitting down with his own. Meg's eyes went wide for a moment,

"Oh wow! This looks wonderful!" It had been years since Meg had a good homemade meal.

"Aw… its just leftovers…" '_So humble…._' she thought to herself for a moment before taking a large bite of food.

"It still tastes great… I haven't had a meal like this in so long…" This caused Hercules to blush, and then missed his next bite of food causing it to drop on his lap.

"Ah! Hot.. Uh… OH…." He bit his lip, feeling embarrassed. Feeling sorry for him, Meg got up and went to him,

"Wonderboy its okay," and placed a kiss on his cheek, "I'm happy, don't worry about your little clumsy moments. I know you're a lost cause when it comes to that but I love you anyway." She kissed his lips now, and his blushed grew even brighter.

"And… I-I l-love you t-t-too," He stammered. Sitting down at her seat again a blush came to Meg's cheeks again, it had been so long since she had heard those words she had all but forgotten how wonderful it felt to have someone say them.

"When do you have to leave for Sparta and your store openings?"  
"Well… I leave for Sparta tomorrow and then over the rest of the week I have the rest of the store openings and appearances. I'll be very busy…" Hercules frowned, feeling guilty.

"Guess it comes with being the most famous person in all of Greece with the strength of a demi-God." Meg responded. Though she was disappointed.

"Ill make it up to you…" He felt awful. It was the first time that he ever not only felt that he had more important things in his life than this publicity and Hero business. He never thought that things would turn out this way, he got chills whenever he thought about it.

"Wonderboy? Earth to Wonderboy?" He looked up, unaware that he had fallen into a deep daze.

"Sorry!" He laughed, resuming eating.

"What's on your mind?" She asked.

"Just thinking about us…" He blushed, causing Meg to smile and chuckle a little at how sweet he was.

(the three asterix doesnt stay formatted, so this is a time lapse)

Meg flinched slightly in her sleep, her eyelids fluttering.

_"Who are you?" She asked, staring at the scrawny man who smelled heavily of whiskey._

_"He came out of nowhere… Gods my mother she doesn't even know…" He approached Meg, shaking her roughly._

Sitting up with a Gasp, Meg looked around her with wide eyes, staring at her hands almost with a foreign expression, her fingers flexing slowly. An erratic sound mimicking a hiccup crawled up her throat in an attempt at speech. Her legs moved, standing up as her eyes flickered around the room, and a grin pursed her lips before her eyes fluttered, and she collapsed.


	4. Spasm

**Chapter 4**

_  
"Megara… Megara…"_ Meg groaned a bit, opening her eyes groggily and looking up into Hercules's worried expression. "Are you okay? I woke up and you were passed out on the floor…" She thought for a moment, her brows furrowed but she could not recall, but just assumed that she had fallen out of bed.

"I probably just rolled over a few too many times." She sat up, rubbing her head a little and stood with his help.

"Did you hit your head?"

"No," She smiled a little at the worrisome expression on his face. "Oh stop worrying…"

"A-are you sure you're okay?" Meg chuckled now,

"I'm fine Herc. What time do you have to leave for Sparta?"

"Soon sadly… want to have breakfast before I have to leave?"

"Of course." She smiled sadly, the thought of being alone in the large villa disturbed her. It was almost too large and elegant for her to feel comfortable in. However odd her expression was Herc's smile was genuine. In the kitchen Herc wasted no time in getting breakfast started, worried that she would not like what he prepared, but his worries were for naught.

"This is great Wonderboy! Who would have thought the greatest hero Greece has ever known would also be a good cook," She smiled at his blush. Breakfast seemed to pass too quickly, and the couple decided to relax in the den until a red-faced Phil came to hurry the hero to Sparta. They sat on the divan and talked, Meg sliding over next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. Herc was startled by the gesture, and slowly put his arm around her, almost afraid that it would cause her to recoil. But as he felt her rest comfortably against him he allowed himself to relax. Meg slid one of her arms behind him around his waist, the other she reached over and laced her fingers in his.

"I love you Hercules." She sighed contently, surprised herself at saying it so unprovoked, and by his reaction Meg know that he was caught a little off-guard as well. She shifted her weight and tilted her head, unwinding her fingers from his to turn his head to face her and pressed her lips against his. She pulled away, smiling softly at Herc's bright crimson cheeks. The pair didn't have time to so much as blink before Phil came storming in through the entrance of the Villa,

"Come on kid! Lets move!" Meg sighed heavily as Herc shot to his feet without hesitation damning Phil's timing.

"Okay okay Phil!" He walked up to Meg, and she couldn't help but feel a bit of déjà vu about the night in the gardens. "I'm sorry…" He frowned. "I'll try to be back as soon as I can." He kissed her cheek timidly, and frowned a bit as he was hustled from the room and quickly vanished out the front where he mounted Pegasus. Meg slumped back down on the couch, and rested her chin in her hands,

"Well, now what do I do?" She asked herself. Her eyes scanned the room and it seemed to suddenly be bigger. Her fingers massaged her forehead, "Gods what a headache… I wonder if I did hit my head when I fell out of bed." She laid down on the couch, hugging a pillow under her head and closed her eyes, deciding that sleep would help her headache.

_"Remember me?" Her eyes darted towards the voice, and saw a man standing there, but she did not remember him as he asked._

_"Who are you."_

_"My mother needs to know" He stepped towards her, _

_"Hey back off! Who are you?" She stepped back, retreating as he advanced._

_"You are going to help me." The man stated, and before Meg could react he leapt at her,_

Meg's eyes shot open, her pupils dilated as her eyes darted clumsily around the room. Her hands flexed slowly with twitching movements. A smile struggled to curl the ends of her thin mouth into a smile as she stood on trembling legs. A sound gurgled from her throat, after several attempts she found her voice.

"A body again…" The voice was raspy, the words choppy as she took a difficult step forward. "Don't worry, I'll return your body in one piece." Walking was a task much harder than anticipated. Having been out of a body for so long every movement was unnatural and forced with great difficulty. A headache began to spread through her head and she fell to her knees. "Not yet." The words were slowly beginning to sound more natural, "Hold on a bit longer. Damn this is harder than I anticipated." Her eyes were clenched shut and a hand pressed tight to the side of her head. "A body feels so heavy." Her legs shook as they hoisted the body attached to them, and after a momentary sway found their center of balance.

A few staggering steps was all it took for the instinct of how to walk rushed back, her body regaining control. A sharp movement of her head snapped her line of vision to the door, and with movements that were more graceful, but still painfully ridged, it took only moments to reach the entry way and with hesitant hands pushed back the curtain, her fingers curled tightly and took great difficult to let go. She was only able to take a few more steps when the headache throbbed heavily through her.

"Not yet." Her voice still rasping and forced. But despite the arguing, the rebellion carrying on inside of her was not a battle that could be controlled. In a slow and almost methodical way, her eyes began to flutter, her arms spasoming in a much more violent reaction than earlier as she completely collapsed into what resembled a seizure, but afterwards a stunned consciousness flickered her eyes, and looked at trembling hands, and another smile crawled across her lips.

The short distance to the main gate was awkward, fighting the rising headache again. The curse rose from her throat as the spasms shook her once more, and darkness took over.

"Dear Gods…" Meg groaned, followed by a slur of every Greek curse she knew which was a rather colorful and creative list. Her head was pounding with a headache almost worse than the one from her hangover the previous day. It only took a few moments for her to realize her surroundings, she had managed to get halfway to the front gate of the villa and had apparently blacked out. "I must have sleepwalked." She was satisfied with her explanation and brushed herself off, finding that one of her legs was surprisingly painful and a bloody scrape running down the side of her calf was the culprit, and the discovery brought another slur of colorful phrases.

She walked inside, heading for the bathroom to clean up her leg and was relieved to find that it was nothing more than a mild scrape that just bled a little more than usual. Rubbing her head which was already feeling better she made her way into the kitchen to prepare herself a cup of tea and she found herself in a precarious situation as she did not yet now how to navigate around the kitchen.

Meanwhile, by the southern coasts of Greece Hercules landed in Sparta after a long flight and realized a rather foolish blunder. He had left Meg alone in the villa, and had never taken a moment to show her were things were kept. He fretted for a moment, biting his lip his mind flooding with fears of arriving back at the Villa to a furious Megara, and after several moments managed to convince himself that his fears were a bit exaggerated. _'I'm a big girl, I tie my own sandals and everything_' Her voice rang in his ears and he softened a bit, even though he had forgotten to show her things he was sure she would fine things without problem.

His thoughts were correct. It took Meg only minutes to find which of the various places the tea had been stowed, as well as a pot, a cup, and the flint to start a fire. Meg sighed after settling in the den with her tea, biting her lip a bit. "I never thought that I would actually feel awkward being left alone." She commented with a sad chuckle. She stared at her cup, watching the swirling tan liquid barely able to make out the leaves settled at the bottom. Surprised by her own admonitions she bit her lip, "I can't wait for you to come back Wonderboy." She didn't even know what to do with herself. She had been a slave to Hades for over two years, her time was consumed by following his every whim. Now that she was free, it was awkward for her to find that she was bored and found herself longing for Herc's return home.

I know the very end sucks, and sorry this is so short. I hope you enjoyed anyway.


	5. Quite the Headache

Alas, this story is not nearly as popular as my other Hercules fic... maybe I'll pick up some more fans soon. But thanks for reviewing Ali Panda.

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Hours passed, and Meg managed to amuse herself by reading for a short while before traversing outside to explore the garden that surrounded the villa and noticed how closely it resembled the garden in which she and Herc had first discovered their feelings for each other. The size of the garden surprised her, once she began to explore the grounds they seemed even larger than she expected.

"Wonderboy is going to have to show me around, this place is huge!" A smiled found its way to her lips at the thought if spending another night with him in a beautiful garden. She just hoped that the next time Phil would not come to interrupt just as the magic happened.

In Sparta Hercules had put his things in a guest room of the King of Sparta's villa before being led to where the troops were waiting. Much to Herc's amazement the group of soldiers he was called upon to speak to were not adults as he had previously imagined, but a large group of young boys who could hardly be thirteen years old. _This might be fun after all_ he though to himself.

Nightfall settled over Greece and Meg had another cup of tea before retiring to bed, and in Sparta Hercules had just finished speaking to the kids and found them amazingly well disciplined. Both went to bed that night thinking of their beloved. But while Herc's sleep was calm and filled with pleasant dreams Meg was wracked with otherwise.

_"Why do you keep coming to me?" her voice sounded like a foreign echo to her own ears._

_"You are the only one who can help me. You overcame me before, not this time." No more words were exchanged before the man rushed at her, and she fell back,_

"Ah damn that hurts." her voice rolled from her throat without the scratching difficulty of before. She flexed her fingers, looking at them still perplexed by the feeling. A smile tugged painfully at her lips and she lifted from the bed, her feet feeling the cold marble of the floor. "A woman's body feels so weird." her body shivered, acknowledging the cold. Ignoring the old but familiar sensation her legs carried her to the entrance of the villa, her bare feet making a gentle padding sound as she walked.

Outside her eyes once again scanned her surroundings before continuing down the fountain and tree lined path. At the end a large gate separated the path from the main street. With startling agility her fingers grasped the metal bars and pulled her body up,

"Good thing she's a scrawny little thing not much weight to pull up" Her feet helped push her up as she stepped on the bars that crossed over the gate horizontally. It took less than half a minute to scale the gate and drop down on the other side. The sudden crash of pain that soared from her ankles up her legs to her knees and hips hit with surprising shock. "Ah! Damn! Should have climbed down…." her legs trembled as they lifted her body from the ground, taking unsteady trembling steps as the pain in the joints argued loudly against walking. But these protests were ignored as the legs moved anyway, carrying its host.

Her eyes gathered the sights around her, blurring with tears as the memories of life flooded every thought. Her head shook, a hand wiping away the tears. A headache was slowly beginning to rise from the back of her head, and her legs changed from a walk to a run understanding the sudden urgency. Within minutes she stood at the entrance to a small house. Gently pulling aside the cloth sheet that covered the doorway she walked inside, finding a candle still flickering to life on a table.

"Mother?" _That won't do, this isn't my voice its hers._ Nonetheless a woman emerged into the kitchen.

"Who are you?" The trembling in her voice betrayed her fear, and Meg's lips fell into a frown.

"Do not fear! I'm not here to harm you."

"Please… just leave… I have nothing valuable."

"I'm not here to take anything. I…." _You cant say its you, she'll never believe you. Remember she's looking at a stranger not her son. This is not your body._ "I have news of your son."

"Leo, my son Leo? What do you know! Oh he has been missing for weeks… my little boy." Pain clutched at her chest as the emotion hit like a living entity, _Mother… oh how I wish I could hug you now._

"I… I'm so sorry. He was murdered. By Alexander." _Avenge my death mother, I don't think I can with this body._ A loud wail erupted form the woman and she fell to her knees, and Meg's body remained frozen in place the headache rising further into her head throbbing with increasing intensity. _I have to hurry…_ "Avenge him. That is what he wanted to tell you, do not Alexander, the lowlife bastard, get away with this."

"How do you now this?" The voice wavered with what almost sounded like hope, hope that the news brought to her was a mistake made by a crazy stranger. Hesitation now filled the air, _How can I explain this to mother… she would never believe that I possessed this woman's body she'd think she's gone crazy! What can I possibly say…_ Tears now flooded Megara's eyes, spilling over her cheeks.

"You would never believe me if I told you. But your son had wanted you to know what happened to him." She moved to the crying woman, slumping to her knees. _Oh mother… don't cry. The afterlife isn't so bad. _The headache growing in the back of her head grew worse, _Shit! _She stood, "I'm sorry!" And her legs ran as fast as she could with the throb of pain from jumping off the gate. It took every fiber of self-control to keep the legs moving, to fight the urge to run back. _Mother…_ Feeling the bond with Megara drifting, the legs ran faster, desperate to reach the Villa in time, but to much dismay a security guard was actually performing his duties. "These legs…" Her voice was trembling and she took a couple staggering steps towards the security guard and promptly collapsed by his feet.

With a great rush, Megara returned to her own body, and took a sharp gasp. The guard, completely shocked at finding the young woman collapsing at his feet only to convulse and gasp immediate after thought she was possessed and promptly brought the butt of his sword to her head and brought her to the blackness once more. Megara had not been living at the villa long enough for the guards to recognize her, and so he picked up her unconscious form,

"What to do with you…" He groaned a bit, annoyed at actually having to do something rather than just sit in front of the gate. He enjoyed the later shift because there was less to do and then this strange possessed woman appeared. "Oh I'm too tired for this." he walked a bit to an alley and tossed her body rather roughly. "Freak." He walked back to his post, completely oblivious to the reality of what he had done.

It was long into the morning before Megara's eyes fluttered open. She was immediately aware of the searing pain in her skull, and the fierce throbbing in her legs.

"Dear Gods… what the hell happened" She fought to get herself onto her hands and knees, but promptly sat back down with a sharp cry. Terrified, she looked around her and found that she was not in the villa where she last recalled being. Her vision was slowly focusing, still stubbornly blurry from the heavy blow she had received. She quickly realized she was in an alley, and that the villa was only across the way. "How in hell did I get here? Maybe the tea was bad…." Her voice trailed off and she approached the gate and was promptly stopped by the guard.

"Halt" She looked up, rubbing her head a bit. "No one can enter its not a tour day."

"I'm not here for a damned tour let me in."

"Sorry miss." He held his hand out and she looked up at him,

"Herc must have forgotten to mention it before he left this morning… I have only been here one night. But I live here now…" She trailed off, finding how odd the words felt coming from her.

"I'm sure you do. As do the other twenty women who tried that stunt. Let me guess, you work for him? You're his long lost sister? His girlfriend? Miss just sign up with a tour." Meg groaned loudly,

"I really do live here!"

"I just saw you get up from the alley across the street. You've been there since I got on shift. Now tell me, if you live in a villa like this why would you be sleeping in a filthy alley?"

"I don't know! I was asleep in the bedroom and woke up there!" As she argued she began to realize her situation and found herself desperately wishing Herc was around to remedy the problem.

"I know how you got there, let me guess. Either you decided to piss off daddy and run away or your husband died and you have no money? I've heard every sob story, every con a fan girl can think of. I'm not letting you in this villa."

"Damn it! When Hercules gets here he can explain everything!"

"Okay, lets wait till then." Meg made another attempt to advance and was shoved back. "I said, we will _wait _until _then_."

"Gods… what the hell happened." She tapped at her head, not knowing what to do. She huffed at the man and turned to leave, following the corner around to where the gate met a stone wall. She bit her lip and resolved that as high as the wall was, she was going to have to conquer it, despite her severe acrophobia. But her fear, coupled with the aggravating throb in her legs was making her wonder if trying to scale the wall was a good idea. "Well Megara its not like you have a lot of options here." She sucked in a breath, "You survived the Underworld for years! You can scale a simple wall. Not like you've never done it before." She let out her breath, and grabbed at the jutting stone and began her climb, her legs screaming in agony. Only two feet off the ground she had to drop down where she collapsed and began rubbing her legs furiously. "What happened…" She began to get scared as she processed what was going on. She had fallen asleep in the Villa, woken up in an alley with no recollection of why and both her legs and her head were throbbing.

Fighting back a nervous sob she managed to get to her feet, and spammed her fist against the wall. _You can do this Megara!_ She grabbed at the wall again, whimpering as she pulled herself up. She looked up, refusing to let herself look down. She could already feel her heart pounding at the mere thought of being high off the ground. Ten feet from the ground she reached the top off the wall and pulled herself over it, and found a fifteen foot drop on the other side.

"Dear Gods! No wonder they only guard the front gate, hopping this wall is suicide!" She was clinging to the wall desperately at the sight of the ground so ridiculously far below her. "I can't climb down that… my legs GODS!" She laid flat on the top of the wall which was luckily rather wide. "OkaIy, smooth move there Meg. Now you're in a worse situation." She laid motionless on the wall for several long minutes, thinking about her situation, and how the hell she was going to get down the steep wall. Climbing up ten feet with her aching legs was strain enough, climbing down would be immeasurably different. Especially because she couldn't look down without feeling like she was going to vomit. "Oh Wonderboy… this time I really am a damsel in distress and I don't think I can handle it this time."


	6. Off the Wall

Yay! I have more reviewers! Thanks guys )

**AliPanda**: Thanks! I'm glad you like, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

**Bwaygal**: Thanks for starting my fics, I'm happy to learn you enjoy them and that I found an original plotline! I hope you continue to read review and enjoy!

**LeahDay**: Yeah I make a lot of typos that Microsoft works doesn't catch. I hope you continue to read.

**TonyBoy:** I'm glad you're hooked! Please continue to read .

In Sparta, Hercules was packing this things into a satchel that reeked of sweat and dirty feet, 'the smell of a real man' as Phil often put it. He had nearly finished and was eagerly looking forward to arriving back home and spending some time with Megara, better adjusting to their new life together. He had been unable to keep the young beauty from consuming his ever thought, she had even managed to invade his dreams.

"Kid!" The curtain separating Herc's guest suite from the rest of the palace he was staying at was all but torn from its wall as Phil came bursting into the room. "The kids loved ya baby! They want you to stay an extra day, y'know, show em' some movies! The old one-two! Ya speakin' was great kid, but they wanna see some _action!_ They wanna' see those moves that ya used to beat the titans with kid!"

"Phil, I told Meg I wouldn't be gone for long." He explained sadly.

"Ya can't let the kids down!" Phil knew how to tug on Herc's heartstrings in order to get him to do what he want, which often lead to how the satyr got the young Hero to endure so many public appearances.

"I know but-"

"You're they're hero now kid!" Herc sighed heavily, dropping the nearly-packed bundle of clothing.

"Fine. Just one more day…"

"Their trainer's gave 'em the whole weekend off! You gots to stay now kid!" Phil's accent seemed to thicken whenever he was excited, "you gots t'stay now, these kids ain't ever get days off from trainin'! This is a once-a-lifetime chance!" Herc groaned a bit, torn between motives.

"Well, Meg can probably handle herself. But… I should at least write her a note to explain that I won't be back for a few more days. I hope she won't get mad." _What a way to start this relationship with her_ he thought sadly to himself.

"That's the spirit kid!" Hercules smiled a bit, only encouraged by the thought he was doing it for the kids, he had such a soft spot for them. Having lead such a lonely childhood only made survivable by this friends Cassandra and Ikarus, he seemed somewhat driven to make sure other kids didn't pick on the lonely ones. After talking with Phil for a short white over the future appearances Herc got to work quickly on a short letter for Meg,

_Dear Megara_,

Herc frowned, feeling that was too formal.

_My darling Meg,_

He stalled again, he was afraid he would come off to strong and frighten her off if he wrote like that. The Gods knew he loved her dearly, and wanted more than anything to show her, but he had never had such a relationship with a woman, or ever felt so dearly for someone.

_Dearest Meg,_

This introduction Hercules finally settled for, and laughed pathetically at himself for making such a fuss over how to start a simple little letter.

_Dearest Meg,_

_I'm sorry but I have to remain in Sparta for the weekend, it turns out the soldiers I was going to speak to are the children who are the future soldiers of Sparta! Phil told me they were so excited to meet me they want me to stay, they even got the weekend off of formal trailing to train with me! I can't wait to tell you all about it. I hope you're going okay, I miss you already I miss you, _

_Love, _

_ Hercules_

Herc bit his lip at the crossed out line, and promptly scribbled it so it was impossible to tell what it had once said. He rolled up the parchment and tied a piece of string around it to hold it rolled together.

"Now… how do I send it home…" He thought for a moment, it was a long ride back to Thebes, but if he sent a messenger back with Pegasus it would get there a lot faster. He sat up, Phil having already left to take care of scheduling for his appearances and wandered the grounds until he found a man he recognized from when he first arrived, "Hello?"

"Ah! Mister Hercules, is everything alright?"

"Yeah I just need this letter delivered to Thebes. There's a woman named Megara staying with my at my villa, its for her." A grin tore across the man's face and he burst into a hearty laugh,

"Ah so the mighty Hercules is no longer the most eligible bachelor in all of Greece! More famous than the king of Sparta himself!" Hercules blushed, and stuttered for a few moments. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone so the press won't mob you. He thanked the man warmly and handed him the scroll, advising him to send Pegasus and the man agreed to send the messenger with the winged horse, seeming to sense Hercules's sense of urgency.

Back in Thebes Megara still lay curled up helplessly on the wall that surrounded the villa, arguing with herself two hours after Hercules had sent a messenger with the letter.

"Get up you wuss" She whimpered, "I'm hungry, I'm cold, and now I have to piss and I'm stuck on this wall because I'm too big a sissy to climb down" Her cheeks had distinct lines. "Damn this fear of heights," She didn't usually cuss so often but she was starting to become overwhelmed. She looked up at the sky aimlessly, to keep herself from looking at the ground ten feet below her on one side, and fifteen feet below her on the other. She noticed a vague spot in the distance that was growing larger, within seconds it was clear that it was Pegasus. "Wonderboy! Oh thank the Gods!" She smiled, hitching herself up a little.

The messenger had Pegasus land in front of the gate, he didn't feel right just entering the grounds without being let in formally. He stepped off the back of the winged horse and approached the guard,

"Hey, Hercules sent me"

"I was wondering why a strange man was riding Pegasus. What can I do for you?"

"I have a message for a Miss Megara,"

"A Megara?"

"She's the young woman who's living with him now. She just moved in with him yesterday." Megara was able to hear the conversation, she hadn't traveled far down before trying to scale the wall. She frowned when she discovered that Pegasus wasn't a sign that Hercules was back, he had only sent someone to deliver a letter. But seeing her opportunity to get off the wall she began to shout,

"Hey! You two!" The guard and the messenger looked up, obviously started to find the young woman laying on her stomach on the wall. They ran over to her quickly, the messenger recognized her from the description Hercules had given him but the guard only knew her as the strange woman he had refused. The pair rushed to the section of wall she was on, and stood below her rather perplexed.

"What are you doing up there ma'am?" The guard inquired,

"I told you I live here, I didn't know when Herc would be back so I tried to scale the wall. When I got up here I realized I couldn't get down." She huffed a bit at having to admit her odd predicament. "So if you could get me down and let me in now, that would be great." The pair looked at each other and back at Megara,

"Jump I'll catch you."

"Are you insane? That must be ten feet!" She clutched the top of the wall again, pressing herself against it. "Pegasus…" She whispered to herself, just remembering the winged horse. "Peg, help me out!" The flying horse had followed the guard and messenger and decided to help her. He still remembered that she had saved Herc's life, he had let go of his previous inhibitions towards her. He flew up, putting his buttocks against the wall so it would be easiest for Meg to slip off the wall onto his back. Wearily, Meg sat up and slid to the edge and dropped onto the horse's back before flopping forward and clinging to his neck. Once on the ground she slid off of his back and sank to the ground, pressing herself back against the wall.

"You alright Miss?"

"No! My legs hurt, my head is killing me, I've been up on that wall for GODS know how long… I just want to go lay down on the couch." She stood up, brushing herself off.

"Y-yess Ma'am. And your forehead is bruised…" If she had been feeling less bitter Meg would have told the guard not to call her ma'am.

"Now this time, open the damn gate." She ignored the comment about her bruise, walking towards the gate and walked up to the villa after it was opened. She was followed by the messenger who still had a job to do but he felt it would be better to let her cool down a moment. Turning and looking at the man, "Who are you?"

"Hercules sent me with a message-"

"Herc? Oh… what did he want?" The man produced a scroll, handing it to her and she wasted no time in unrolling it, and frowned as she read it. "Oh… he'll be gone the whole weekend." She tried, unsuccessfully, to try and hide her disappointment. She looked at the man again, "Thanks. Why don't you join me for lunch?" She knew he had a long way back to Sparta, and with Herc planning to be gone for a few more days she could use a little company.

"That sounds great!" He smiled a bit at her, and together they walked inside, settling in the kitchen as Meg filed through the cabinets to find the tea leaves and something to gather for a simple lunch, settling on some leftovers she found in the ice box that seemed to be diced lamb with various vegetables. She set the table, serving her guest before herself and sat down with the hot tea. "You're a lucky gal, the envy of all Greece," The man laughed.

"Sometimes I hardly can believe it myself."

"So how'd you meet the great hero?"

"Before he was famous actually," A soft smile tugged at her lips at the awkward hero's attempt at his first rescue. "Like something out of a corny story. A damsel in distress, hero comes to her rescue, happily ever after. Well, not right away. We took some time getting to know each other."

"What kind of trouble did he wrangle you out of?" The man was smiling at her, taking a bite of the food. "And thanks for lunch by the way, I was getting hungry and it's a long flight back to Sparta."

"Your welcome, sorry I couldn't fix up something better but I don't know my way around this kitchen yet. And to answer your question: I was in a bit of trouble with a minotaur. So, what's your name?"

"Lysander." Meg gave a polite smile,

"You always lived in Sparta?"

"No, otherwise I'd be a soldier. Im actually from a sub-state just outside of Sparta and I got hired by the King of Sparta to run favors and messages. What about you, have you always lived in Thebes?"

"No, I traveled a lot." She kept the answer short and simple, her mind flickering to her two years servitude to Hades.

The pair continued to talk for about an hour more, before Lysander explained he had to return to Sparta. Meg walked him to the gate and waved goodbye to him after giving Pegasus an affection nose-rub and went back inside to try and sort out her thoughts. Now that she was alone with nothing but her thoughts, she began to wonder and worry about why her legs hurt so badly, and why her head felt like she had been beaten.

That night the bond with her body would be broken again by the soul of another, but the consequences this time would be much more dramatic.


	7. Blade

Sorry for the lack of personal notes to my reviewers this time around. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I've been exceedingly busy so I apoligize in advance if this is a little... sub-par (well Im always overly critical of myself) But I hope you enjoy, please review )

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The clouds covered the full moon like a cliché scene from every horror story ever told. In her sleep Meg flinched, whimpering a bit before sitting up sharply and looking around her with her hand on her chest.

"Gods… these nightmares!" She cursed, having been jolted from her slumber by the odd nightmare. "At least this time I didn't wake up outside." She groaned a bit, the pain form her injuries finally settling in. With a sharp sigh she flopped onto her back, rubbing her face roughly. Not used to the villa yet, she felt vastly out of place especially laying alone in the grand bed. She looked outside and frowned, "I can't wait until you come back…" She whispered then rolled out of bed with exaggerated effort. After a cup of lavender tea Meg felt relaxed enough to curl back up in bed and drift back to sleep.

"_I saw how you helped him…" Meg turned, hearing a voice but not a person to go with it. She took a moment to examine her surroundings and found she was in a damp place. The ground felt wet beneath her bare feet and the air felt heavy and humid, and she could vaguely make out gently flames flickering pathetically in the darkness. Finally a man emerged with a desolate expression tugging his features._

_"I helped who?"_

_"That other man. You helped him and his mother. Please, help me too." Meg frowned, furrowing her brow at the man._

_"I don't understand."_

_"You don't remember? But we all know…"_

_"Who all know? About what? Who are you?!" Meg was growing more apprehensive, backing up a few steps._

_"I'm not gonna hurt you." The man seemed to sense her obvious distress. "My name is Perseus. Not the famous one. I want your help. I was murdered, and my wife witnessed who did it. I want you to get her to tell my brother, he'll find the guy who did it and kill him. He can't get away from doing this! I just got married, she was pregnant. Now she's all alone. A pregnant widower… no man would want to be with a woman in that situation." Meg shook her head, rubbing her forehead, "What's happening… why am I here? Where the hell IS this?!"_

_"Meg-"_

_"And why do you know my name?" _

_"I can't really explain it, but help me the way you helped that other man."_

_"I didn't help anyone, I just spend all day at Hercules' villa enjoying my new life. Unless you mean him… but I don't know how I can help you-"_

_"Not Hercules. The other man." He groaned, "I can't waste time." Without further word he ran at her, "I'm sorry" And she fell back._

She fell back onto the floor, hitting her head roughly. Her eyes darted around the room and a smile quivered across her lips as she gave a sad laugh,

"It worked… I didn't think it would work." A sputtering laughter erupted from her throat again. "Hard to believe its already been a week… and its so strange to talk and hear a voice that isn't mine" Her head tilted up, looking at the ceiling for a moment and another laugh spilled forth. With shaking arms she stood onto the aching legs, and the sudden pain was startling, and was almost enough to cause the legs to buckle. "Okay… don't waste time. If this is like the other guy this won't last long." With that, the legs began to sprint despite the ache and ran down the path of the villa, but stopped short several yards from the gate. "How to get out…" The guard at the gate seemed to be more attentive than the one from the previous night, and it would be too odd if he caught what appeared to be Megara leaping that gate. After a quick scan of the surroundings the gate appeared to be the only available option. Thankful that Megara maintained her own voice under possession, getting past the guard wouldn't be as awkward. And he wondered for a moment why the other man had jumped the gate rather than just talk to the guard. "I'll have to ask him about that when I return to the underworld." With a deep huff the journey was continued, until the guard noticed Meg's presence. "Just going for a late walk… bit of a nightmare a walk around town should help."

"Okay. Be careful Miss Megara." With a nod she was off, and disappeared quickly down the street outside the villa before turning into a side-street. After about two miles she came up to a small house that could barely pass for more than a hut.

"I wish I could have left you more money for a better home" The sound of Megara's voice instead of his own was still an oddity "I have to make this fast… I can already feel myself slipping." With a swooping stride she slipped path the doorway and found a young woman laying on a blanket thrown over a pile of hay, which served as the only furniture in the hut other than a small wooden table and a cradle. With breaths that now came in gasps, a trembling hand reached out to the crib as Meg's legs dragged in slow progress towards the cradle. "My child…" Peering over the edge of the cradle he found a sleeping baby boy, "A son… I was going to have a son" Even the quite whispers was enough to jolt the woman awake.

"Who are you!" It had taken several moments for the groggy woman to focus her eyes enough to notice the intruder and leap to her feet, her balled fists held up in front of her.

"Whoa! Mell, calm down." Upon hearing those words her eyes widened,

"No one but my husband ever called me Mell! Who are you!"

"It's me honey… sort of. I don't really understand it but I possessed this woman's body to come see you,"

"Shut up! He died! How dare you come into my home and taunt me like that!"

"No, Mell honey-"

"Don't call me that" Already the young woman was in tears.

"I know this is odd-"

"I had to deal with his death and raise our baby alone, with no way to earn money! I can barely afford enough food to eat! And you come and mock my pain!"

"I'm not mocking you-"

"I can't take this!" She collapsed to the floor, her face buried in her hands as she cried with reckless abandonment.

"Mell…" The woman leapt over to where she had been sleeping and pulled a knife out from under her pillow,

"Get away from me!"

"It's really me! Daniel, I told you. I possessed this woman's body to see you-"

"Back off lady, I swear… I can't do this anymore. People hassling me for being a widowed mother, mugged when I finally get some bread money, I see Daniel's face everywhere…" She lifted the knife up, and without time to think or react from the figure in the room, she plunged the blade deep in her own chest.

"MELL!" Meg collapsed next to the body of the woman, who already has stopped breathing. "Oh mell… our baby… why did you do that…" Tears flowed down her eyes now, "I didn't want this… I didn't want this…" In shock Daniel didn't know what to do, the reaction seemed to random. Too unprovoked. He had no idea that his widow had been so close to the brink that this strange event was enough to make her take her own life. Meg's fingers bushed lightly at the woman's face, "Oh Mell, my darling Mell…" But then he realized "At least now we can meet again in the underworld. We will be together again my sweet." Meg's eyes looked over at the cradle then back at the lifeless body of his wife in the arms of the body he had possessed. Leaning down her lips met the woman's forehead. "I love you Mell" After an elongated pause Meg was back on her feet, and moved swiftly over to the cradle and lifted the sleeping infant. Without hesitation the infant was carried outside, and eventually to the temple where the tot was placed on the stairs, "You will be safe, someone will find you tomorrow. I don't have much time…" But tears filled Meg's eyes again and spilled down her face, "Oh Mell… I will never forgive myself for what I made you do, for everything. I just hope we can be together again in the afterlife. I will see you soon."

Daniel knew he would never be able to pull himself away if he didn't leave now, and he would slip his grip on the woman's body he had invaded and leave her in a rather confusing situation. With that, Meg's legs broke out into a sprint until she was just a few yards from the gate. Walking up to the gate the guard looked at her oddly,

"Miss Megara… are you okay? You-"

"Yes.. I'm fine." Daniel interrupted. The guard was obviously perplexed, but after the chaos from the afternoon before he had no intentions of crossing the young woman, she surely must have a rather negative opinion of him as it was. Dashing up the path and inside the villa, Daniel brought Meg back to the bedroom where he had first taken over her body. "Forgive me miss for doing this to you, but at least you won't remember this and not have to endure the burden I now have to." Curled up on the bed Meg's body went limp for a brief moment before her own soul returned, jolting her from the deep sleep she had been in before she was possessed.

"… the hell. What the hell…" She muttered, shuddering a bit as she hugged her arms. She woke up terrified and trembling, looking around the room with wide darting eyes, "that nightmare…" She was used to nightmares, but what she was mistaking for a nightmare was much harsher than any nightmare she ever had. "Oh Gods wonderboy… I wish you were here."


	8. Blind Panic

What she thought was a nightmare disturbed her far more than she thought. She had fallen asleep and woke with a jolt to find herself at the edge of the river Styx, her palms empty. But no one else had seen her, not even Charon. She shivered at the memory and brushed her hair back coolly, settling on that it was nothing more than a disturbing nightmare triggered by her stint in the underworld. Traveling downstairs she made herself a cup of tea with vanilla and cinnamon. It never failed to relax her after a bad nightmare.

Her nights were, for the most part, uneventful until Herc's return except for one night Daniel invaded her again in order to attend the funeral of his wife, and ensure that the Temple had taken in his infant child.

Meg was waiting eagerly on the front porch of the villa for Herc's return. He had sent a letter ahead to let her know that this was the day for sure that he would be arriving home. She wasn't forced to wait for long, shortly after lunch she could make out the distant image of Herc and Pegasus appearing in the skyline. A smile found its way to her lips, watching as they grew larger until finally landing on the short path in front of the villa, Herc leaping off before he had even fully landed and rushed to Meg, lifting her into his arms and embracing her,  
"I missed you" He announced as he held her tightly against him drawing a smile form her,

"I missed you too wonder boy!" She pulled back from his embrace just enough to look at him for a split moment before tilting her head and pressing her lips against his. She kept it simple, not wanting to overwhelm him after a long trip. "How was the trip?"

"The kids are… more hardcore than I am about training!" He laughed, "They're still just kids though. It was a little sad to see them so intense, I can't help but wonder if they're even allowed to just be kids"

"Its how they've functioned for generations don't stress yourself about it." This seemed to settle him at least a little bit,

"But its nice to be home again… with you" He added the last two words with cautious hesitation, blushing some as he said it, and she just smiled reassuringly at him and kissed his cheek.

"I'm glad you're back too. It's a tad lonely all by my lonesome in this huge villa"

"Sorry I was gone for so long…."

"Well its all part of being a hero. Are you hungry? I already ate but I can try to make you some lunch"  
"Actually I could use a nice lunch." He smiled, putting an arm around her shoulders.  
"Well lets take your bags in and I'll see what I can put together." He gave her a light squeeze and set off to the bedroom to drop his bags and unpack while Meg set to work on attempting to make him lunch. She could manage to make an edible meal for herself, but she was fidgety over trying to put together something he would find tasty. She settled on just making him a sandwich and finished just as he was coming downstairs. "Lets go outside," She suggested,

"That's a good idea," He replied, taking the plate from her and kissing her cheek. They went outside to the veranda where they had a wonderful view of the rest of the garden. There was a set of rather comfortable furniture out there and they each settled into a chair and Herc propped his feet up, eating the stuffed pita Meg had fashioned for him. "Thanks for lunch," A smile pursed her lips,

"Glad you like it. So, what's Sparta like?" Though she knew very well what it was like, being Hades' minion she had traveled almost all over Greece. She wasn't the greatest fan of Sparta, they were too war hungry. Though she had to give them credit: they treat women with much more respect than most other city-states.

"Pretty clean, absolutely no crime. Must be the discipline they instill as soon as you're born! Those kids those practically worshiped the ground I walked on. It's nice to know kids look up to me." He had a proud smile on his face and it made Meg giggle a little,

"You're practically a kid yourself"

"Hey!" He blushed, embarrassed and looked down at his hands.

"Oh Herc, its not a bad thing" She couldn't help but give him a sympathetic smile, and he caught her look and managed a quivering smile as he set the empty plate beside him. _Wow he chowed that down fast_ Meg thought to herself as she got up, moving over to him and sitting on his lap, surprising him a little but he slipped his arms around her waist as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Can we sit out here together for a while?"

"I won't argue with that." he brushed her bangs back a little, "How did you fare while I was gone?" She had forgotten about her nightmares temporarily and decided not to bring them up since there was nothing to get out of it

"A little lonely being in such a huge villa on my own but I survived." She laughed. She also decided not to bring up the fact she woke up at one point bruised and in an alley.

"And I'm sorry I have another thing coming up soon" Meg shrugged, closing her eyes as she snuggled up to him a little more, enjoying his presence.

"Well then we'll have to enjoy the time we have together" And she was enjoying it, merely sitting there in this arms. It brought her a strange sense of contentment she hadn't felt in many years.

"That we will. And I'll have to take you to the agora so we can stock up the fridge." _We can…_ she smiled to herself at the thought of going shopping with him to buy food. It made it feel all the more real that she really was living here with him, and that he considered her part of the villa now.

"When would you like to go? There's not much left in the pantry or ice box."

"Hmm… well we could go tomorrow after breakfast or maybe after lunch. I just got home… I want to just relax for a bit."

"Of course!" Meg laughed a little, nesting against his shoulder, her fingers stroking under his chin and she felt the heat in his face as he blushed before she closed her eyes to kiss him again. "I'll help you relax." The heat of his cheeks grew stronger and she just smiled at him, getting off of his lap and moving behind him, rolling her hands over his shoulders. She began nimbly massaging his shoulders, and felt him relax at her touch.

"Hmm… Meg, heh… that feels pretty good. Where'd you learn that?" His voice trailed off to a fluttery whisper as he enjoyed the little massage Meg was giving him.

"Its just a little thing I've always been good at." _My ex used to ask me to give him massages all the time, even his nasty feet. _But despite her foul disposition when it came to the subject of her ex, the memory itself wasn't too unpleasant.

"I'll have to return the favor later." Herc smiled,  
"I'll hold you to that!" She laughed, leaning down to kiss his cheek. She sighed down, dropping her arms over his front resting her chin on his shoulder, "When do you have to leave tomorrow?"

"I have to appear at the grand opening of two new stores, so I have to leave early-ish. But I never stay long I just open them and run. So I should actually be home before dinner tomorrow."

"What exactly is early "ish" for you?"  
"Well I have to get there early… to… y'know… prepare… and stuff. So… around five." Meg laughed at that,

"That's early, not early "ish" He shrugged a little, tilting his head back a little and blushed as he stared at her, lost in her beauty for a moment before she leaned forward to catch him in a kiss. "Just do me a favor. Don't wake me up at dawn, I'm not much of a morning person"

"Whatever you say." He smiled at her again and she couldn't help but let a giggle escape from her throat at the childish look on his face.

"For now, lets just relax"

"Yeah." He just smiled.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Shooting up Meg's eyes flickered around with the same twitching unfamiliarity as the nights before. The unnatural curling and flexing of her fingers followed as well, following a pattern that it seemed would always take place each time her body was taken over. A manic laughter erupted from her throat, and with a jerking motion her eyes settled upon the form of Hercules sleeping strait through the awkward sounds she was making.

"The famous Hercules hmm… quite handsome up close. But s'bout time I goin' to see my ole' buddy now." Sliding from the bed her feet met the floor but her legs wouldn't support and the rest of the body collapsed in a quick heap. "T'aint used to actually weighin' something' " That manic laughter again. Walking, rather unsteadily, the stranger made her way over to Herc's side of the bed and toughed his cheek and bent over him and kissed him, lingering to savor the moment. Standing back up she trodded towards the door, reluctantly, and made her way down the hallway. "Damn big place they got here." It took some time to find her way down the stairway and outside. From the door of the villa she could see that there was a guard by the front gate. Scanning her surroundings she looked for a way out of the villa but it was difficult to do since she was not used to looking out through eyes that took time to adjust to darkness. But after some time she decided to scale the wall, happy to discover that the ground was actually not far from the wall on the other side. Hopping down with ease she fell to her knees, surprised at the sudden shockwave of pain ignited by a previous injury Meg received while under possession.

The streets of Thebes were dimly lit by oil street lamps, and the full moon made things much brighter as well. Making her way down the familiar streets it was only a matter of minutes before the destination was reached. Walking inside the powerful smell of opium and alcohol met her nose like a physical blow. She had nearly forgotten when a filthy place this hovel was.

"Hey!" The familiar voice made her cringe. "Who the hell are you?" A burly Egyptian man approached her, standing nearly six feet tall and easily over two hundred pounds. She almost retorted with Andrea, then recalled the bitter truth that he had murdered her and would quite clearly recall who she was and the fact she was no longer among them.

"Chrysanthe. You know my ole' friend Andrea." That certainly stirred the man sitting amongst a cloud of foul smelling smoke, and she caught the gleam of a knife.

"Now who would be so stupid as to mention that name here in my house!" He approached her and she stepped back out of reflex, scrunching her nose from the smell and in confusion and annoyance as she could barely decipher what he was saying through his thick Egyptian accent.

"I believe there's a debt that be owed" Coming closer to her he laughed all of a sudden,

"I took care of that debt when I took care of Andrea. Just 'cause you're a woman don't mean I think of you any different than the rest of the filth infesting this city." Standing up with false courage Andrea stared coldly at the man across from her.

"You know what my father is going to do when word gets to him 'bout what you did" _Shit! I should have seen my father first_ She damned herself as she realized the foolishness of her error, then began to question why she was even there.

"You father only cares 'bout the business"

"I'm surprised you can manage t'stay afloat since you be smoking most of your _merchandise_ all day long. No wonder you're so dumb" Before the words were even completely out of Meg's throat a hand closed tight around it slamming her back against the wall.

"Seems you're fool coming in here to my house insulting me. You have no idea who I am and I've never seen your face 'round before so I don't think I'll feel any grief to dispose of you. If you are a friend of Andrea's I doubt you'll be missed. No one misses people like you. Now, tell me what business you have here" Andrea spat in his face and found a fist slamming into it in return. The blinding pain caught her off guard as blood instantly poured out of her nose.

"Damnit!" She screamed, bringing a hand off of the one that pinned her against the wall and wiped the blood that seemed to just be pouring freely out of her nose, and she spat surprised to find somewhere in her mouth was bleeding as well. Andrea groaned a few more times, and spat at him again splattering blood on his face and felt a sharp pain across her shoulder and blacked out for a moment and realized that her grip on Meg's body was being interrupted. Looking through teary eyes she saw a light gash that now adorned her shoulder. "You know you owe my father money!"  
"_Your_ father? Oh, I get it know! You know Andrea because you're her sister!" He laughed now, "That old hag is the only man I owe money too, all the others owe some to me. But I'm feeling generous today," With that pause the blade slammed shallowly into Meg's abdomen before the hand around her throat let go, "I won't kill you." And with that he grabbed her limp form and threw her out the doorway. The trauma from the attack finally snapped Meg into her own body, and she opened her eyes and was only immediately aware of the searing pain. Letting out a startled cry her hands flew over the shallow wound in her stomach and she curled up for a moment. Pulling one of her hands away she could just make out the gleam of blood and her eyes darted about, studying her surroundings but she was still having trouble pulling her mind away from being jolted into consciousness this way. As she looked around she began to realize she had no idea where she was, and then noticed the burning in her shoulder and the throb in her face, not to mention the bitter metallic taste of blood in her mouth. Touching her shoulder, her face, and her abdomen again she began to take in her situation.

"Wh… whats… where…." She gasped, barely able to even wrap her mind around the questions she wanted to ask. Tears rolled down her cheeks from a combination of pain, and terror like she had never known before- not even in all her time in the underworld. She remained in shock for several long minutes, trying to wrap her mind around her situation. Staggering to her feet she stumbled against the wall of the building, clutching her stomach with one hand, wiping the blood from her nose with the other and gasped when she saw the blood on the ground and was suddenly overwhelmed with the desperate need to get away from where she was and her sheer panic took over, temporarily numbing her pain as she ran, not caring where she was going she just needed to get away from there.


	9. Stitches

**To my readers:** Hmm… no review for chapter 8. Umm I hope you like. Sorry if formatting got messed up most of my editing on fanfic wont stay

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Everything was blurry, her sight, sounds became distorted, and her fingertips were growing numb though she couldn't notice as every fiber of consciousness she had left was wrapped around the burning pain coming from her abdomen, which was even curtailing her ability to notice her shoulder or where she was going. She felt like she was on automatic, she wasn't paying attention to where she was running she only knew that her feet were moving. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest struggling to keep up with the panic that threatened to consume her. Through teary eyes she could make out the form of one of the guards to the villa and let out a choked laugh of manic relief. 

Calisto was the man on guard that night, he had been the same guard who had refused to let her in that night she found herself waking up in the alley. It was a few more moments before he heard a distressed call and turned to find the blood-soaked Megara making her way up the street. She collapsed as soon as she got to the gate her breathing shallow. Overwhelmed with relief at making it back to the villa she laid on the ground motionless, barely able to whimper Herc's name as she curled into a fetal position, clutching her stomach that was burning beneath her hands. Everything hurt, she could only remain aware of the pain and the slick metallic taste of blood still in her mouth. _Whats happening to me_.

"_Hercules… get up." Herc spun around. Looking for the source of the disembodied voice he just heard, "Hercules"_

"Wake up!" He was jolted from sleep was he was roughly pulled almost out of bed and he scrambled to his feet ready to fight until he realized it was only his guard, and he had blood on his hands.

"Oh Gods what happened?!" He wasn't yet aware Megara wasn't still asleep beside him,

"Come outside quick, it's Megara, something happened…"

"What? Is she alright?!"

"I don't know"

"Where is she!" He bellowed, and the guard suddenly realized the error of not bring the injured girl inside but having just left her outside to run in and fetch the Hero. In a matter of moments they were both outside, Hercules sick with fear for Megara and the guard sick with fear for his job almost sure that Hercules was going to fire him. Once outside Hercules immediately gathered Meg in his arms. The smell of blood was masking the vague scent of the opium smoke that had settled onto her clothing. Her face was pale but she was still conscious and whimpering. She flinched when he touched her,

"Oh Gods!" Hercules whistled for Pegasus, having to whistle a few times before the Horse could hear it in the stables and come to answer the call. Hercules was on his back in moments, with Megara in his arms writhing and whimpering from the pain that was now taking over her as her panic lessened. The hospital wasn't far, and luckily Hippocrates worked there. He was the only doctor Herc trusted, especially in a situation like this.

Hippocrates was asleep in bedroom which was on the upper floor of his little hospital and Herc wasted no time kicking down the door and waking him up pleading to help Megara. Everything seemed so fast, Herc could barely remember what he was doing; his whole body was numb.

"Hercules?"

"Please… help her…"

"Oh Gods what happened?"

"I… I don't know."

"Bring her downstairs." Meg managed to gather her senses enough to speak,

"Herc…" Tears poured out of Herc's eyes at hearing her say his name and he held her tight as they rushed downstairs to place her on the table and within seconds Hippocrates had already cut away part of her dress so he could examine her wounds, taking care to cover her appropriately since he needed Hercules in the room to help him. Herc had to pry her hands away from her abdomen and hold them so she wouldn't place them back. Herc let out a crackled sob jump from his throat as he felt the slick blood on her hands and saw the wounds that had been causing her so much pain. The one on her abdomen was small, he could hardly believe how it could bleed like that.

"Hercules… this part is going to hurt. A lot I'm afraid, I have to place my finger in the wound to feel to make sure no organs were punctured. You're going to have to hold her…" Herd blanched and nodded, repositioning himself so he was holding her down and Hippocrates had strapped her legs down and hoped for the best. He cleaned his hands best he could and slipped two fingers into the wound. Instantly the room was filled with Meg's scream that simply tore Hercules to shreds as he felt her try and thrash beneath him.

"Its okay Meg… its okay. You're gonna be alright, I promise!"

_You're gonna be alright…. I promise._

Hercules shook his head, shoving the memory away. That wouldn't happen again. He kissed her forehead as he held her down, telling her again and again that everything would be alright. It only took Hippocrates a few moments to analyze the wound and tell Herc some good news: no organs had been punctured, the wound was shallow but it had been deep enough to cut through her abdominal wall which would be harder to repair. Her shoulder only needed stiches and the blood in her mouth was from a cut inside her mouth, and had nothing to do with her abdominal wound. Stitching her shoulder would be easy, but with only very mildly working sedatives repairing her abdominal wound was going to be very trying; for both Megara and Hercules.

The operation took a little under an hour. By the end of it Meg was unconscious and pale, and Herc looked like he was about to pass out as well. His eyes were red and swollen with dark bags under them and he was just as pale as Megara. Hippocrates told him to get some sleep but he refused, insisting that he stay away so he was there was Meg eventually woke up. Hippocrates just nodded, and hoped for the best. She had lost a lot of blood, but he had done all he could do. She was all fixed up, her freshly stitched wounds were covered.

"Hercules… do you know what happened?" Herc just shook his head for a moment and took several seconds to explain further,

"We went to sleep together and I was woken up by a guard who brought me outside and she was just lying there… all that blood."

"We can ask her when she wakes up." Herc nodded, pulling the blankets up over her to keep her warm as he diligently waited by her bedside for he to wake up, praying to the Gods that she would pull through.

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Short chapter, kept it that way to keep you guys in suspense. 


	10. A Battle of Souls

It was a few hours before Meg began to stir, jolting Hercules from his daze. She opened her eyes slowly, trying to focus them on something. At first she could only make out vague shapes, then colors, then edges grew into focus and she could just make out Hercules standing over her, moving. It was then she began to feel her hand clamped within his own, and her cheeks felt funny… no, not funny, he was kissing her. Just like her vision her sense of touch came back slowly, bit by bit until she was able to even feel the wetness on his cheeks from the tears that were flowing down them. He was repeating her name, and it took a while for her to finally focus enough to realize she was in a bed at what appeared to be a hospital. And that everything hurt , a hell of a lot.

"Mmm… Gods…" She groaned, shifting in bed a little and tried to arc her back to stretch but her shoulder and stomach felt like it would tear and she gave a little gasp before relaxing. Hercules squeezed her hand as he looked at her, obviously hurt at seeing her in so much pain. His gaze captured Meg's through the glaze in her eyes as he placed yet another kiss on her face, taking great care to be especially gentle of the giant bruise on her cheek. "Oh thank Gods." He whispered. He wanted to shout for the doctor, have him evaluate her, conclude that she was alright. But he couldn't tear himself away from her. He was overwhelmed the same way he was when she opened those violet eyes after he reunited her soul with her body. He stroked the good part of her face again as her eyes fluttered closed

"_Help me"_

_"I need to tell her"_

_"Tell him"_

_"Nut-Meg"_

_"help me"_

_"Please help me"_

_"Help me, I beg you" Voices surrounded her, and she whimpered, placing her hands over her ears_

Meg's eyes were rolled back and she was blinking rapidly, her mouth vaguely coming together in muted garbled speech and Hercules panicked, screaming for help and Hippocrates came rushing in and saw Meg and was at a loss, she looked possessed. She began to convulse and he suddenly suspected she was having a seizure,

_She tried to run but they were all around her, running bumping her, she would fall and look up, _

She saw the terror in Herc's eyes and she felt the same panic,

_Please, please. All around her, voices, she couldn't block them out. She tried to scream,_

"Stop! Please!"

_"Who are you all, please, what are you doing?" Her world began to swirl, she would be torn from the hospital bed and fall back into the banks of the river Styx, Charon forever holding his hand out for the coin she did not possess, those on the other side stared at her longingly as if they knew a devastating secret known to all but hidden to her. She would be aware of flaring pain, then nothing. The river again, blackness again,_

"Stop please…" Her convulsions stopped, her eyes settled, she couldn't hear voices anymore. Her breathing was quick, a little blood trickled down her shoulder from a few pulled stitches, Hercules was still clutching her hand and she looked from him to Hippocrates, "What happened?" She whimpered.

"I don't know Meg," Hercules whispered after a few moments of silence. Her breathing game in ragged gasps, trembling as if she was sobbing but no sounds came out. She tried to lift her arm only to find she was too weak to do it. Hercules saw her attempt and reached for her hand, now clasping both her hands firmly in his. Hippocrates decided not to address the need for replacing her stitches just yet. She felt detached, and couldn't shake the idea that during her 'convulsions' she felt the same as she had when her soul had slipped away into the depths of the underworld after her body had finally given up its struggle to stay alive with her devastating injury from that damned column. She felt like her soul had been ripped from her body. Her mind began to swim with the dreams she had, and waking up in odd places but in her weakened state couldn't put the pieces together.

With her stitches replaced Meg was allowed to rest again, Hippocrates wanting to keep her overnight for observation to see if she would have another fit, and within a few hours she began to wake and had a similar episode, but Hercules and Hippocrates were not the only ones to see.

"_Well well well, if it isn't Nutmeg!" Meg spun around, once again empty-handed on the banks of the Styx. She froze when she felt a hot breath on the back of her neck and dared not to turn around. The voices around her silenced and vanished with this new visit. Cold fingers slipped over her shoulders before one hand caressed the side of her face, "I've missed you. You were my only real chance to defeat Jerkules,  
"I'll die before helping you." She whispered  
"You see, that's just what I had in mind." Meg wretched herself from his grip, spinning around and staring at the blue demon before her,  
"You'll never win Hades." He laughed at this,  
"Its time I take what's owed me."_

"Meg!" Hercules shouted when her convulsions began, but they stopped short and she settled, her breathing stopped. "MEGARA!" Hercules wailed, but was pushed back by Hippocrates who immediately began to try and resuscitate her.

_"You're owed nothing Hades."  
"That's where you're WRONG" His hair burst into flame and he reached out to grip her throat but she slipped through his fingers,_

Megara coughed harshly, taking in ragged breaths. Hercules, still distraught with tears, was at her side in moments sobbing so uncontrollably whatever he was saying was lost in a garbled slur. She was trembling, barely aware that it was Hercules who was gripping her now, if she had the strength she would have slapped him out of her reaction to Hades reaching for her. It took some time for her to calm down, her panic heightened by the anxiety of Hercules and Hippocrates.

"What happened?" Meg finally asked after some time.

"You…" Herc's voice cracked and Hippocrates sighed,

"Megara, it appears that you had a seizure… you gave us quite a scare you stopped breathing and your heart stopped for a few moments there. I want to keep you here for observation for a little while."  
"No." Meg whimpered. "I want to go home… Herc take me home please…" She whispered.

"With your fragile condition you need to be monitored." Meg sighed,

"What if you come to the villa? Then I can go home…" Hippocrates sighed,

"I have patients in the morning I can abandon them. I promise you'll be well taken care of here." She furrowed her brows some and tried to turn onto her side but found that the pain in her side stopped that. Despite how tired she was she was unwilling to fall asleep. The images kept flashing through her mind. Hercules was diligently by her side and once Hippocrates was gone from the room he kissed her, almost desperately.

"Oh Gods I thought I lost you again." He squeezed her hand and stared at her and she almost couldn't comprehend the reality of what he was saying.

"But you didn't." She wanted to smile but found she couldn't. She wanted to tell him about the voices, the river Styx, the waking up in an alley the night before she was stabbed, about Hades. But a part of her wouldn't let her. _Suck it up._ She scolded. But she knew this was so much more than nightmares or bad memories. This was something else, and it had damn near killed her. Something was seriously wrong, but she refused to believe it had anything to do with the underworld. She shifted uncomfortably and Herc frowned down at her. She hadn't heard his previous few sentences but managed to focus her attention back onto him,

"-go home soon, I promise" Meg nodded.

"I want to go home."  
"You need to rest…"

"No" she interjected promptly

"But-"

"Herc those… whatever they are… happen when I fall asleep here. I'm staying awake until I can go home!"

"If it happens again and we're not here… Meg I can't-"

"You won't lose me." Herc just bit his lip and leaned down to kiss her again, this time getting a response from Meg who returned his affections.

"I love you"

"I love you too."

"I'll get you home soon, I promise." Meg nodded, and felt herself beginning to drift to sleep but forced herself back awake, she refused to fall asleep again. But inevitably her body's desperate need to rest won, and she fell into a deep slumber while Herc remained beside her, clasping her hand in his.

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I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. To clarify something since I dont know how familiar anyone is with Greek Mythology but when a person dies and goes to the underworld Charon is the one who ferries them accross the river styx, but only if they have a coin in their hand. If they do not have a coin they are left behind. 


	11. Arguing

Okay I apologize for the delay, been writing a lot of papers for college.� This chapter is short because I also have this fanfic running on a site called Herc Haven http/ Its a great site! Check it out :) But when I sent her chapter 10 part of it got lost but this is just the blurb i added to the missing segment so I can have this site and Herc Haven on the same page. � A true update will be up soon.

But thank you all my loyal reviews, as always I hope you enjoy!

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�

_Meg's eyes snapped open, gasping for breath. She sat up , leaning back on her hand as her other hand pressed against her forehead. She looked up at Charon, holding out his hand for a coin. She looked in her hand, empty as always._

_"Nut-Meg"_

"Megara" Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself in a cold sweat, Herc clinging to her almost desperately. He rubbed her hair back, kissing her forehead. She was confused, she couldn't even remember falling asleep. She looked up through half-closed eyes and could make out his shining blue eyes standing over her the way the robed Charon had.  
"Charon?" She whispered, confused. "I don't have…" her voice trailed off into a sigh, tears coming to her eyes.

"No… its me, Herc. It was just a dream you're awake now" He explained cautiously. Her eyes fluttered opened again as she was able to fully register her surroundings. She tried to sit up only to have Herc push her back. "No no no… you have to relax." 

"Herc please…take me home" She pleaded. "If you don't the next time you fall asleep I'll get up and walk home myself."

"Megara…"

"If I managed to run halfway across Thebes with stab wounds… I'm pretty sure I can limp home stitched up" She narrowed her eyes at him, and she sighed.

"Okay lets compromise. Stay here tonight, and if you don't have one of those… fits, we can go home tomorrow morning and I'll take care of you at home unless you have one again. Is that okay?" Meg squinted an eye at him, analyzing him as if deciding whether or not to take his deal but after a moment she relented.

"Fine." She sighed, "Tomorrow morning though, promise?" He chuckled a little, glad that she was feeling more like herself.

"I promise." he placed his hand on her cheek again, bringing his lips against her forehead before pausing, biting his lip. "Meg… do you remember what happened? Anything.." His voice trailed off. 

"No." Her brows furrowed as she thought, recalling her blackouts and waking up in odd places injured in some way. She wondered if she should tell him, but she was afraid to. She was afraid to even admit to herself what she thought it could be. "Herc I swear to you I don't know how this happened." She added, worried that he would doubt her. She opened her mouth to tell him about the dreams, about what she sees during what Herc referred to as "fits", and about her previous blackout periods. But at the same time, something in her was afraid to but she couldn't explain what. 

Watching her, Herc seemed to sense her distress and reached out to brush a few hairs out of her face. His attempt at comfort didn't calm her much and she sighed deeply, trying to sit up only to have Herc push her back down again, "Herc I can sit up" She told him. "Now, help me up against the head of the bed."

"You need rest." He corrected.

"I'm feeling restless you know very well I'll get up-"

"Fine." He relented, reaching out to help her sit up, frowning when she winced and let out a gasp, "Are you-"

"I'm fine." She interrupted. "Just… a little sore. As I'm sure you can understand." Though sore was quite an understatement, it was taking quite a bit of self control not to whimper. Herc nodded,

"C-can I do anything… to help, y-you, with the-the pain." he stammered. She just smiled at him,

"Herc, calm down." She reached to pat his hand with her good arm, "I'll live" Herc chuckled nervously and reached for her hand with his, clasping it before his smile faded and he brought her fingers up to his lips.

"Meg, I'm supposed to protect you. I'm the hero… I'm so sorry… I've let you down. It's my fault-"

"Don't! Don't try to blame yourself, or, or think that there was something you were supposed to do." Herc looked ready to interject but she continued, "You cant stay awake at all hours even you need sleep."

"I should have heard something though, woken-"

"STOP IT! Herc, just stop it…" She winced and held her stomach._Shouting with stitches, lets add that to the list of things to remember never to do again_ she mentally scolded herself. "Hercules, I don't blame you for this, in fact I'm grateful to you. You got me to the hospital quickly, who knows what would have happened if it was left up to that idiotic guard." Herc smiled a little at her and nodded, biting his tongue and letting her win the argument. 

"Alright. But I promise I'll find out what happened to you." He brushed her hair out of her face, and Meg gave into his touch, tilting her head into his hand. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead and she pulled him down with her good arm so that their lips met. She pulled back and touched the soft skin beneath his eye,

"You look like you could use some rest."

"Yeah, I'll agree with that"

�


	12. Home at last

Heres my update. Ill try to update Reopened Wounds soon I'm just so busy lately. Its graduation time and I need to finish my resume, I'm moving, have to find a long-term job, its crazy! But I hope you like this chapter.

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Herc had fallen asleep in a few minutes but Meg laid back against the pillows, exhausted, but refused to fall asleep. She narrowed her eyes as she fought to remember anything. Her vision drifted up towards the ceiling, fighting with her blurry memory but it seemed anything she could recall ended when she fell asleep, and began again with waking up in that filthy alley, surrounded by the smell of opium and the pain webbing through her entire body. Even that was a bit fuzzy. She thought back to waking up outside with aching legs, and waking up on the floor.

"What happens when I fall asleep?" She whispered. She looked over at Herc's sleeping form, noting the rhythm of his breathing. Hippocrates had brought in a small cot for him to sleep in and had placed it beside her bed.

Hours passed and Meg fought sleep, but as dawn approached she found her exhaustion lifted slightly and it was easier to force herself to remain awake. It wasn't until deeper into the morning that Herc began to groan and stretched, his back cracking loudly as he shifted from the stiff cot. An amused grin spread over Meg's face as she watched him, he obviously didn't have a very comfortable night's sleep.

"Mmm…" He groaned for a moment before rolling over, and fell back asleep. Letting out an annoyed huff Meg laid back against the pillows, staying awake would be a lot easier if Herc was also conscious.

_"Net-Meg"_

Meg jolted with a gasp, looking around and realized she had fallen asleep. She felt a shiver course through her at the thought and looked over at Herc again, tempted to wake him but she just ran her hand through her hair and laid back. Her abdomen was throbbing fiercely with the force of her jolt, and she did her best to keep herself from groaning and wiped her eyes to keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

Twenty more minutes passed, Meg drifting into another momentary brush with sleep before Herc stirred again and did not roll back over but sat up finally, rubbing his eyes and looked over at Meg and smiled.

"Good morning sunshine" Meg teased but he smiled nonetheless.

"Good morning. How'd you sleep? Did your… umm… stitches, keep you awake at all?" Meg shook her head at him, convincing herself that she wasn't lying, because technically the pain from her stitches weren't what kept her awake throughout the night.

"How about you" She croaked, wincing at the sound of her voice.

"Uncomfortable… I feel like I could have slept more comfortably in a hole." He twisted and his back crackled as if to accentuate his point. He stretched, causing his back to crack a bit more.

"It'll be nice to go _home_ and sleep in your bed." She teased him, trying to stress how much she wanted to get out of the hospital.

"Are you sure you won't stay? I mean Meg, you were… s-stabbed." He faltered, barely able to choke out that unnatural phrase. Meg furrowed her brows, wanting to argue but she was busy trying not to cry out as her stitches felt like they were on fire. After a few moments she was able to collect herself.

"You promised."  
"I did… I know. A-and I'll bring you h-home. I'm just worried Meg." She couldn't help but find it cute how he always stuttered when he was nervous.

"Don't be." She settled back against the pillows, curled slightly so she wouldn't pull her stitches so much. Herc frowned at her, reaching out and rested his hand on hers and laced their fingers.

"If you really want to leave we will. I just want to wait for Hippocrates to see you once more. Meg nodded slowly, finding that fighting off sleep was starting to get easier as more sunlight filtered through the window.

"Then go get him… I hate hospitals." Herc just chuckled a little at her,

"He'll come in once he's awake. Then we can go home just be patient."

"Well you did fine overnight, but I'd really rather keep you another day"

"No."  
"In case of-"  
"No"  
"Complications…"  
"No. Thanks for all your help, really, I do appreciate it but I really want to go home." Meg sighed, her hand still pressing against her freshly changed bandage. "I'm just not a hospital girl." Hippocrates chuckled lightly,

"Just come back if anything happens. You should do okay but if anything at all changes come back right away." Meg nodded impatiently, trying to hurry him along as he explained instructions on how to care for her bandages and gave some herbs for the pain before sending them on their way. The flight home felt like it was taking hours, but within minutes they were back at the villa, Meg giving the guard at the gate a rather dark look as Herc carried her inside after sending Pegasus back to the stables. Once settled in bed Meg hitched herself up so she was leaning against the headboard,

"See, we're back and I'm fine." the long silence finally broken by Meg's cracking voice.

"I just want to be careful… do you umm… want anything to eat. I-I mean if it hurts… you don't have to… but food helps umm healing…" She couldn't help but find his stammering cute.

"I think I can handle something simple, like soup." She smiled, and he blushed as he fumbled out of the bedroom and once he was out of sight she turned onto her side, curling up clutching her bandage, "Gods damnit!" gasping a bit she took a hand and pushed her hair out of her face and tried to collect herself before Herc got back, "you can handle this, come on." groaning some she sat up, reaching on the end table where Herc left her packet of herbs. Grabbing one she ate it, not bothering to wait for Herc to come back so she could ask for him to make it into tea. "Ich, tastes terrible…" Hearing footsteps she turned slowly, trying to avoid giving her stitches any reason to scream and smiled as Herc came in with two bowls of soup.

"Here, I hope its okay" With the bowl on her lap Meg smiled up at him genuinely and thanked him, beckoning for him to sit beside her so they could enjoy the soup together. "Do you like it?"

"Its very good, don't worry." She assured him, taking the next mouthful. The pain was starting to ebb, and she was surprised at how quickly the herb was kicking in. It wasn't helping a lot, but it took the edge off which was enough to make it easier to function.

"How are you feeling?"

"You keep asking and I keep saying fine."

"Meg… you were stabbed." He cringed at that word, the entire phrase just sounded too surreal.

"I know, and I'm doing about as good as I can given the situation. Lets just enjoy the soup and relax together, hmm?" Blushing, Herc couldn't help but chuckle and nod as he took another mouthful of soup. Halfway through the bowl Meg sighed, setting it aside and laying back, feeling her fatigue come back and she rubbed her eyes trying to fight off the desire to sleep. Noticing her sudden change in demeanor Herc gave her a look and Meg shook her head as if to tell him 'don't ask'

"You seem tired…"

"I'm okay. I guess I didn't sleep as well as I thought. Why don't we go outside for a little bit? Maybe the fresh air will wake me up a little bit."

"That sounds good." After Herc finished his soup he got up, walking around to the other side of the bed to help Meg up, and she found she still wasn't able to stand up strait because it felt like she would tear her stitches so Herc lifted her up carefully, despite her protests, and made their way outside. It was sunny and rather hot in the July heat.

"Its really hot out today." Meg commented, noting that the skin around her stitches seemed to feel much more sensitive to the heat. Herc nodded his agreement and leaned back on the bench, draping his arms over the back and tilting his head back.

Rubbing her eyes a bit, Meg had to try again and fight her fatigue and found herself developing a headache. Finding it hard to remain awake while sitting still she stood up carefully, leaning over slightly and took a few hesitant steps forward before Herc leapt up and pulled her back.

"Come on, relax… you're still hurt." She sat down reluctantly, feeling sticky from where Herc had grabbed her.

"Its so hot." She noted again.

"Maybe we should go back inside?" Meg sighed and nodded, then shook her head.

"No. Why don't we walk a little? I'm sure I can handle that." He looked about to protest but Meg tilted her eyebrow and he shut his mouth, getting up and helped her to her feet. She looked at Herc, feeling bad about her harsh attitude and gave him a smile as she squeezed his hand a bit,

"I'm sorry I don't mean to be so bitchy."  
"You're not being bitchy." He replied almost instantly and she couldn't help but giggle,

"I have been. But in my defense its been … a hectic week." A gentle smile overtook her features and one spread across Herc's face as well.

Night arrived and Herc fell asleep quickly, obviously exhausted from stress but Meg refused to sleep, holding her arms as her eyes flicked around the room. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to stay awake the whole night if she stayed in bed she got up, trying not to disrupt Herc and traveled to the kitchen to make herself some tea, and hoped that she could read in the den . Settling down she lit a candle for some light and pulled a scroll off the shelf to read, but found it only made her drowsier.

"I cant sleep" She scolded herself and found herself giggling. "Sleep, heh… funny word." She blinked repeatedly, and slumped over on the couch.

Meg jolted, looking up and noticed that light was filtering in through the window. Rubbing her eyes she sat up, "Damnit!" She shouted, about to sit up when her eyes fluttered and she collapsed.

_"My my Megara." She spun around all to slow and saw a flash of blue before falling back on her bottom by the edge of the river styx, empty-handed._

A hand ran through her hair coolly, shivering a bit "Lets go see if Jercules is awake."


	13. Paradox

Okay pardon the long delay, moving and I need to study for my Nursing boards. Wish me luck all you lovely reviewers!! )

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Meg's legs moved with unnatural grace, traveling up the stairs with swift intention. Hades clucked at Hercules in the bed and for a moment pondered murdering him right then and there. Scanning the walls he laughed at all the hero memorabilia,

"Well Jerkules you certainly aren't modest." He clucked again, biting down on Meg's lip as her eyes continued to scan the room. "You pathetic mortals… your eyes are aweful! Damn baby, I can't see a thing!" He tilted his head, seeing one of the trophies closely resembled a sword and was sure the blunted tip would make a very painful wound, exactly what he had in store for Hercules. "Keep it cool" He ran his hand through Meg's long hair again, already missing the cold heat of his own. "Do what you originally planned, it'll only hurt him more." He grinned again, a curling manic expression that betrayed the true psychosis of the man behind it. He reached for the sword and walked up to the sleeping Hercules, wondering how such a famous hero wouldn't be more alert in his sleep.

Lifting the heavy object he brought the handle down hard on Herc's head, and he jolted from the bed, landing on the floor hard as he cursed loudly, touching his head and feeling a bit of blood. He looked up to find the cause and his eyes fell upon Meg's wavering form.

"Meg?!" He shouted incredulously. He wasn't quite registering the awkwardness of her stance, the manic grin on her face, but he stood up, looking at her oddly. "What the hell-" He ducked quickly as the object was swung at him again, and he reached up quickly to stop the blow and felt the unnatural strength she suddenly possessed. _Was she always this strong?_ Hades fought through the pain of Meg's wounds as they tore open with the exaggerated motions. Herc saw the growing crimson stain on Meg's stress, and the blood that was trickling from her shoulder. But Hades was quickly feeling the effects of her injuries. The massive blood loss from only a few day before still made her weak, and her legs began to tremble. Hades clenched her teeth hard, swinging again. "Meg! What are you doing!" He rolled out of the way, reaching out to grab her wrist but Hades moved quicker, swinging the sword and hit Herc's wrist, but the object was too blunted to leave a mark. _Shit_. He scanned the room quickly, looking for a better weapon.

_ Yes!_ He swing his fist landing it hard against Herc's nose, and the blood that dripped form it, and the blood on his fist brought a smug sense of satisfaction to him. He saw what he was looking for, a small dagger near the bed. He knew Herc was an idiot, but he gave him some credit for being smart enough to have a weapon next to his bed.

"Meg what's going on!"  
"You really never do catch on quick." He lunged at Herc, readying the blade high above his chest when Herc's hand clamped around Meg's wrist, and without hesitation her leg kicked out to strike him and he leapt back, allowing Hades to twist out of Herc's gentle grip. Tears began to build in Herc's eyes,

"Meg… why. I thought…"  
"That I loved you?" Hades could hardly believe how well his plan was working. He walked around Herc, oblivious to the fact that he was breathing quicker and Meg's heart was racing in her chest as her torn wounds were bleeding out.

"Meg… I love you… I …. you, this can't be. You _died_ to save me." He stood up now, narrowing his eyes. His eyes dropped to the floor, flickering as he tried to put the pieces of this puzzle together and Hades wasted no time to lunge at him again, but Herc saw the motion and reached out, grasping both Meg's wrists hard in his own. "Why would you work this hard to trick me? If you wanted to kill me you could have done it a long time ago! Is this part of a more elaborate plan with Hades!" His eyes were alive with anger and betrayal. His heart was tearing, and he didn't know how much longer he could maintain his composure. "This can't be…" He repeated. "It just doesn't make sense." Tears rolled down his cheeks, much to Hades amusement.

He kicked out again, landing a blow to Herc's stomach.

"What do you want!" Herc bellowed.

"Isn't it obvious!"

"It just doesn't make any sense!" He began to tremble and released her wrists, and Hades moved swiftly and struck again, the blade penetrating into his shoulder and the cry of pain brought a surge of joy trough's Hades very being. Herc reached out again, grabbing Hades by the wrists again, still ever gentle despite his growing fury. "I love you… and all those times… you told me you loved me. You died to save me…" his mind was fighting, but his ability to think was growing fuzzy, the agony in his shoulder was fogging his thoughts. With his free hand he reached for the blade but Hades moved quicker and punched the handle, shoving the blade deeper and Herc gasped, releasing her. He reached quickly and tore it out, "This can't be…"

"Sorry babe, its true. Hades always said I was a good little actress." That manic grin spread across her features again, "Too bad for you its true." Herc was trembling now, too overwhelmed to fight back, the woman who had finally accepted him, loved him, held him, kissed him. All of it was a ruse. "Ah Jerkules, what a sorry sight you are."

Herc sat up, his eyes alert, "Hades! I knew this couldn't be true!" Hades looked startled, and realized the error of his slip. The pain in his shoulder seemed to vanish as he lunged at Meg, grabbing her arms carefully and pinning her form to the floor. "Get out of her Hades!"

"So angry and still so gentle." Hades mocked.

"Get out of her!"

"If I do she dies!"

"Put her back in her own body!"

"Sorry can't do that!" Hercules screamed, breathing hard.

"You let her back in her own body _now _ Hades! This is a new low even for you!"

"Remember our little deal? You take Meg's place? Well you got your Godhood just in time to save your pansy ass and you got to take Meg too? You think just putting her soul back in her body and everything was dandy!"

"Shut up! Let her back in!"

"She's mine now! You nullified the deal! I get my end of the bargain back!"

"No!" Herc began to tremble, he couldn't take in what Hades was telling him. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't. The blood from his new wound was dripping onto Meg's dress, drawing Herc's eyes to the now rather large crimson stain. "I held my end of the bargain-"

"You _left_ the deal was 'Meg goes, you stay.' remember? Badda-bing baby, its all over. The buzzer has sounded, all outta' time baby! You. Lost."

"I'm not going to let you take her away from me. Not again."

"Oh, are you reference miss noble's little dramatic death scene? That was rather entertaining."

"Shut up!" Hercules was nearly spitting in his rising rage. His pupils dilated and he began to tremble.

"This dainty little body-"

"Stop it!"

"Trapped beneath all that stone."

"Shut up Hades!"

"Slowly dying-"

"But she's not dead!"

"The agony she didn't let you see, only Phil saw-"

"Shut up!" He screamed again, shaking, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"All because of you."

"What are you trying to accomplish! Do you really expect me to hit you? When you're in Meg's body?"

"She's not getting it back."

"As soon as you leave it her soul will come back."

"You're so sure of that" That manic grin again, _Gods_ what Herc wouldn't do to be able to punch that grin right off of Hades but he couldn't hurt Meg.

"Yes. The link between her body and her soul is still there, her body is alive and breathing. Her soul belongs there."

"That, is where you would be a wrong-o! Ya see, when someone dies like little Meggie-poo their thread of life is cut. Well, when you put her soul back she didn't get a new thread, the old one didn't magically repair. No. The fates didn't really know how to fix it so they just tied the two severed pieces of thread back together. The snipped ends of the thread never reunited Jercukes! The bond with her body was never really repaired, its so fragile all it takes is for her to fall asleep and any soul can take over. She's a walking portal between the living and the dead. To bad it won't last long." He grinned. "She'll die soon."

"If she dies Hades you will regret it!" Without thinking his grip on Meg tightened.

"What can you do that hasn't already been done to me!" Hades screeched. "I'm the lord-o-the dead! No one worships me except a few cults, and those guys are weird even for my taste. He rolled Meg's shoulders a bit.

"If she dies Hades, what do you think will happen to _you_. The laws of the Gods, you can't murder a mortal." Hades laughed,

"She already had her death, I doubt the Gods care about this pathetic little nobody. You're the only person in the _cosmos_ who cares about her!"

"If her body dies, while you're in it, does that make you mortal? You are mortal right now, let her back in her body!" Herc's mind was racing, _ 'all it takes is for her to fall asleep and any soul can take over.' _What if that meant Meg could come back? If she somehow fell asleep. But that would mean he would have to knock her out somehow. His heart broke at the thought.

_ I'm going to have to hurt her… in order to save her._

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Dun dun DUNNN! Short chapter with a cliffy ) I wanted it to read quickly because it's a hectic moment. Rule I was taught only write as much detail as the characters would notice. So I hope it read okay, and that it wasn't too detail-less. I hate reading stories that move TOO fast with too little detail so I hope this chapter wasn't like that. Please tell me what you think )


	14. Lamenting Hero

Its almost 1am and I just want the update up so I apologize for not posting my normal replies to my reviews. Hope you enjoy!

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Lost in a storm of thought Herc struggled to hold Meg's writhing form down, hearing such a slurry of curses and insults flying from Meg's mouth was enough to make him feel ill. He could hardly grasp the reality of the situation, and the only apparent solution was something Herc would never do, had _promised_ never to do. His hands were trembling at the thought alone,

"Even if she manages to get back in this broken excuse of a body she can always fall back out again. You can't change that!" Hades felt triumphant, more confident than when he released the titans or when tricked Hercules into giving up his strength.

"I'm not letting anything happen to her."

"Oh, wonderboy is trying to go noble!" That laugh, that manic laugh, Meg's voice but Hades' sardonic tone. As her form thrashed in an attempt to writhe out of Herc's grip he realized the more he delayed, the more time Meg was forced to spend in the underworld, but he was tortured by the thought of having to hurt her. Shutting his eyes he brought a trembling hand up, tears building in his eyes, knowing that he had to bring her back from that destitute realm,

"Forgive me Megara."

"You promised to never hurt her, and look what you are doing!" Hades sneered, and was silenced as Herc brought his fist down, but halted, trembling worse. He fought with himself, all of his inner daemons from childhood surging to the surface, all the destruction brought by his strength. Tears brimmed over, clinging to his eyelashes for a few hopeless moments before trailing his cheek. With one shoulder free Hades saw his chance and rolled out of Herc's grip, leaping up and standing before a trembling Herc,

"Some hero." He sneered, clucking his tongue, "Can't even beat me in a mortal body." Herc jolted to his feet and lunged in a moment of blind fury, stumbling. But Hades was too quick, dodging Herc's advances. His blue eyes flickered to Meg's, their brilliant violet void of any trace of his beloved.

"Let her go!" Herc leapt at Hades with surprising speed, and as the diety tried to dodge his advance Herc's fingertips snagged the hem of Meg's dress and her form crashed to the floor and Herc scrambled to grab her arm, holding her down again as he advanced and once more had her pinned beneath him.

"I will never let you win Hades!" He bit his lip, looking into Meg's eyes finding it near impossible to believe that she was not inside her own body. He knew what he had to do, and once again brought his fist up high above her head, "Forgive me… Oh Gods forgive me…" He fought with himself, Hades' angry words wafted by his deaf ears as he consoled himself by reminding himself that she was stuck in the underworld until he did this. With that, he brought his fist down, and watched her immediately fall into unconsciousness. He wept, burying his face in her hair, praying that this worked, that it would bring her back and that he hadn't been forced to hurt her in vain. Minutes passed before he collected himself, lifting her limp form and carrying her to the bedroom, laying her down tenderly. Brushing some hair back affectionately he felt as if his chest was going to collapse. Tearing himself away from her he sprinted to the kitchen and went into the ice box, scraping some ice into a cloth before carrying it upstairs to place it on the now swollen bump where Herc struck her. He placed the cloth carefully on her head, sighing deeply as he leaned forward and placed a tender kiss.

It was only a matter of minutes before Meg came to, and Herc looked at her with tense anticipation. "Meg?" the hesitation in his voice was obvious,

"Ugh…" Her eyes fluttered around the room, settling on Herc's looming form and a grin pursed her lips, "didn't think ya had the guts to do it" and clucked her tongue. Caught too deeply in his vain hope he seemed oblivious,

"Meg?" He repeated again, and Meg shifted up in bed, letting the ice slip to the floor and slipped a hand to the bump, "I dunno what she sees in you."

"Hades! Get out of her!"

"Wait wait, hear me out," he help up her hands, running one smoothly through her long auburn hair. "Ya see, she's not meant to come back. The link between her body and soul yadda yadda, its too weak. And I'm the lord of the dead, seein' as your little Meggie-Poo is dead," He clucked her tongue again, "I, once again, own her." Enraged, Hercules grabbed her shoulders, pushing her tiny frame up against the wall,

"You do not own her Hades. I won her freedom. From you, from the underworld, from every torture you are trying to put her through."

"You see Jerkules, you're so caught up in what _you_ want you fail to see the obvious truth. Meg has always belonged to me. 'take me in Meg's place' does that sound familiar to ya? Am I movin to fast for ya kiddo?" He laughed, "You never lived up to your end of the bargain. And you're such a pain I think I'll take back my end of the deal since you never provided yours. This is _fair._" He laughed. But Herc shook his head stubbornly.

"I _will_ stop you" Hercules vowed. Meg's eyes began to flutter, and Hades brought Meg's trembling hands to her head, squinting the violet of her eyes closed, he felt as if his grip on Meg's body may beginning to shake.

"Look how good of a job you did, you knocked your beloved unconscious all for nothing! 'Oh, I promise I'll never hurt you!'" Hades mocked, narrowing at him as he collected his senses, "You live in such a delusion to reality. You believe all in fantasy. You think you're entitled to your happy ending, that you somehow 'earned' it. Well Jerkie come here; let me inform you of this little thing called reality. Things don't happen because you want it, or because something bad happened to you."

"Shut up Hades! I _did _earn my 'happy ending' as you put it, I sacrificed everything for Megara, I earned her freedom from _you._ The _Gods_ were the ones who granted me immortality! My end of the bargain-"

"Is still valid! It's the rules kiddo."

"So what are you going to do, just stay in her body? The moment you leave she can come back" Hades laughed again at this,

"I did just leave, you oblivious oaf! And what happened, oh, she _didn't_ come back. Looks like your mushy-face isn't as strong as you thought, she can't even get into her own body. Pathetic really," He shrugged Meg's shoulders, clucking his tongue again.

"You're wrong. And I'm going to get her back." Hercules again fought with himself. It seemed as if he was going to have to go into the underworld again, bring her back himself, but what was he going to do with her body? He had to get her back there, but he couldn't bear the thought of her suffering on the banks of the underworld. His heart broke at the thought of how terrified she must be. He had to try again, he had to give her another chance to come back. Closing his eyes he refused to think about it and tried to bring his fist down but couldn't. _Meg, I would never… ever, hurt you._ His own words stung him like salt in a wound. Burning deeper the already poisonous emotional turmoil he was in. He let her go, watching her slump to the ground Herc's brows furrowed. Hades shuddered, _did Jerkules' little plan work? Is Meg trying to come back?_ He rolled her shoulders again, finding his footing. _You're losin' your touch Hades, you're the lord of the dead! Some skinny brat isn't going to beat you_. With new confidence Hades began to brush and smooth Meg's dress when he was knocked to the floor and his world went black.

Hercules looked at what he had done, yet again. The shattered remains of a vase lay broken and scattered around Meg's unconscious body. Revolted by his own action Herc stumbled into the bathroom, leaning over the sink and vomited whatever was in his stomach. On the verge of hyperventilation he splashed water on his face and went back to Meg's unconscious form. He was sure this time she would be out for a while, but he needed someone to watch her. Lifting her limp form he realized she was bleeding slightly. Tears brimmed in his eyes and he laid her down for a moment to wipe the blood away. Choking on the lump in his throat he found words,

"Oh Gods Meg I hope you can forgive me." Rushing outside he sprinted to the stables, stumbling in the darkness a bit before reaching the stables. As he kicked in the door Pegasus snored through it, failing to wake up after several shouts from Herc, it finally took him tugging his ears. " Pegasus!" The winged beast leapt to his feet, spinning in several circles as he fanned his wings, whinnying threatening. "_Peg!_ It's just me." He tried to explain and finally he calmed down, giving an embarrassed snort then he noticed Megara, who was bleeding from her head and pulled stitches. "Get to Phil's island." He reared the horse and flew through the night, nearly blind in the darkness of the cloudy night.

The flight had never felt so long, and Herc felt a mingle of sickening relief and self hatred that Meg remained unconscious, but breathing. He didn't know which soul was occupying her body and every moment was watching for that terrifying moment when her breathing would stop as one soul left and another entered. But that failed to happen, and he feared Hades was still residing in the body of his beloved. He was to busy fighting his conscience to think of what he was going to say to Phil, so when they arrived on the island and Hercules burst into his home waking up the grouchy satyr he stared at the looming hero with bleary eyes,

"Kid what in Hades are you-"

"No time to explain, Phil I need you to watch her. If she wakes up she may not be herself. She needs to not leave this island, do you understand?" Hercules explained, but Phil remained confused,

"She looks in rough shape what happened ta her?"

"No time to explain, she _does not leave_ do you understand?" He stated, placing Meg carefully on the dusty cot by the far wall that used to serve as Herc's bed as a teenager. Were he not so distracted he may have been surprised that it was still there. Leaving a stunned Phil and unconscious Megara behind he remounted Pegasus and spurred him to the underworld.

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I think this is an appropriate break mostly because I've left you guys without an update for so long and if I were leave it off where I planned to it would have been another several days. I apologize for the long delay but this was an extremely difficult chapter as I had a very difficult time thinking of what I wanted to do, and what would keep it exciting but then I got an idea and wrote it, only to find it was very difficult. SO I hope you all like this chapter because I worked very hard on it and it was the most difficult chapter of this fanfic or Reopened Wounds.


	15. Familiar Feelings

I am too tired to think of any letters-to-my reviewers I usually prefer to do. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

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Herc wiped the sweat off his brow, the air still stale and hot despite the sun still hiding behind the horizon. He glanced behind him, Phil's island no longer visible as Pegasus rushed forward to the entrance of the underworld. He journeyed onward, time seeming to stand still as he flew through the night until those ebony doors appeared as little more than a dot, and slowly took form the swirling images etched into the door took shape and he landed below the daunting colossus, shoving through them and was met with blinding darkness. He squinted, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to even the strong contrast from night to the underworld. His nose was assaulted with that damp sulfuric smell that so resembled brimstone. Were he less focused the stench may have caused him to vomit.

He took a few confident steps forward, scanning the area for Meg already, his heart slamming so hard he could feel the throbbing of it in every fingertip, and every wound. "Hades!" He screamed in vain. He walked to the short shore that rested before the banks of the river Styx and looked around half blindly at the silhouettes around him, each of them staring into their palms, entering Charon's boat as they each stepped into the boat. The large skull that Hades resided towered downriver, the faint glow in the underworld emanated from the eyes of that strange structure.

Meanwhile, Megara sat with her back against a wall, ignoring the slick dampness of it, her face buried in her hands as she tried to think of what to do. Did she die in her sleep? Was she sick and didn't even know it? She shook her head, she knew what it was, same thing that had been going on. She looked up through the darkness, hugging her arms to fight the chill that came from being underground. She never felt so small and helpless, and was damning herself for being so pathetic. But despite her determination to be strong, to just deal with this, she choked back the lump in her throat as the tears ran down her face.

"Megara!" Herc called out, his heart falling with each shout of her name, greeted by only silence. Not even an echo would answer. He looked across the river, towards that skull and where that damned green pool lay where Megara was thrown when she was torn from him mere days ago. He couldn't believe he was here again, fighting for her life. A sickening thought rose to his mind, _what if this is what its always going to be like?_ Damning himself for even thinking it. "Megara!"

The young woman jolted, looking up in vain hope as she thought she heard her name. Her dwindled hope was reignited as she heard it again, and she slowly got to her feet, speaking her beloved's name in barely more than a whisper. But as she heard the sound of her name becoming quieter, more distant, she ran towards the sound, crying out his name in succession.

Hercules froze, he too thought he heard the echo of his name crying back. He turned, looking for the origin of the sound and saw a silhouette in the distance, barely more than a whisper of a form and his heart leapt, barely daring to hope that he had found her so easily, on this side of the river without Hades coming to torment them.

"Meg…" No longer shouting he couldn't find his voice as Meg rushed to him, colliding with his chest. Like before he couldn't necessarily feel her, only the effects of her. He couldn't feel her touch as she clung to him, or as he coiled arms around her, and at the same time he didn't pass through her. But this fact was not something he would contemplate at a time such as this.

"Oh Gods Herc, you fool." She laughed, looking up at him through her tears. "Coming to the underworld for me again." He could only smile back at her,

"I thought you would have learned the first time that nothing will keep me away from you." They both had foolish grins spread across their faces but they faded quickly.

"Meg… if you're still here then." He paused; Meg understood what he was going to say.

"Herc what are we going to do? Hades is never going to-"

"Hades has no choice. Meg I'm not letting that filth take over your body." His voice held that strong conviction she only heard on that fateful night. She pulled back from his embrace, frowning that she couldn't feel the warmth of him, or smell him; she could only see him and hear him. It was if her body, or well her spirit, was numb to everything.

"How are you-"

"Come with me. I'll bring you back to your body."

"But how? I can't leave the underworld can I? And just walk amongst the living. And its different from last time before you mention that. I'm still on this side of the river. I'm… _awake_ this time. I don't understand it Herc I don't know how to get back. I don't know how I did it before, I didn't know that this was what was happening." Meg explained,

"Before? What-"

"Herc." She cut him off, sighing deeply as she looked down, unable to feel her own breath against her skin, as there was no breath to feel. "When you left… I had these blackouts. I don't remember anything, but I would wake up in strange places. Like the night I was…" She looked down at her wounds, or more the representation of them. "But even then I was never awake here, though I started having blips. Something is wrong Herc." Herc bit his lip, Hades had explained everything to him but it was information he planned to keep from her for now. He didn't want to frighten her more than she already was.

"I am not leaving you here. And I'm sure you can leave, I brought you back before, when you had actually…" He trailed off, the final word losing itself as he refused to admit what had occurred only days before. His fingers wrapped around hers, flinching at the nothingness that she was. Meeting her eyes he could see the distress in her expression as he tugged her arm slightly, and she took the cue and began to walk beside him, but she felt like it was too easy. Hades was the lord of the dead, the God of the underworld; he was supposed to know all the goings on, and he was just letting them leave.

"Herc, I have a bad feeling."

"It'll be alright Meg." His smile to reassure her was to no avail. They approached the looming doors, Meg glancing behind her and half expected to be pulled back into that dank realm, recalling an old tale she once read of a musician who trekked to the underworld to rescue his wife who had been bitten by a snake. She always thought it was such a romantic prospect, and here she was, with her hand tightly wound with her beloved's leading her back to the surface. As the doors pushed open they squinted, blocking their eyes from the seemingly searing light of the full moon taking time to adjust their vision, looking around blindly as an excited Pegasus came to them, but the horse pulled back when he tried to nuzzle Meg and found that although he didn't pass through her, he couldn't feel her.

"It's okay Pegasus." She smiled humorlessly as Hercules helped her onto Pegasus's back, having trouble holding her protectively as he couldn't tell if he was holding her tight enough, or too tight. Then he wondered if it mattered, as she couldn't feel him touching her either and its not like he could hurt her in this state. They flew to Phil's island, Meg cringing with distress as she couldn't feel the wind, or anything. It was like she was floating and it terrified her, given her fear of heights. "Herc, tell me we're almost there."

"It's a short flight don't worry Meg." And sure enough the island began to appear, and within minutes they landed, Herc helping Meg off catching her as she fell since she couldn't tell when she landed on the ground. She looked up at him momentarily and Herc leaned forward to kiss her forehead, knowing he reached her forehead when he felt that strange resistance. He wasted no time after that in rushing inside, and despite the peaceful outside of the little home the inside was complete turmoil.

Most of the furniture was flipped on its side, the inside almost complete darkness as the candles went out when they were hewn to the floor, the clay bowls shattered into sharp shards that crunched beneath Herc's sandals.

"Phil!" He cried out, looking for the satyr and heard a groan coming from the far end of the room. He lifted the cot to find the crouched satyr trapped behind it, out of breath with a black eye and bloody nose. "What happened!"

"Ugh she woke up… and it wasn't _her._ Kid what the Hades is going on?!" He looked up, seeing Meg's form and pointed, "Kid behind ya!"

"Phil-" He was cut off by the lunging satyr and caught him, holding him back, "Phil that's the real Meg. Or… her umm… her soul. Hades has her body Phil. He possessed her somehow."

"And ya didn't find it necessary to tell me that!" He fumed, balling his fists,

"Phil there'll be time to yell at me later we need to help her Phil, where did she go?"

"I dunno, she threw apart my home then took off. But she can't a' gotten far, she's all bloodied up and seemed to be strugglin' a bit." With that Herc left, running outside back onto Pegasus, reaching out for Meg and pulling her onto Pegasus just as he began to lift off, pulling her into his arms. Neither of them spoke as they flew over the island, both were too busy fighting their inner fears and demons.

Herc was still damning himself, cursing himself that he should have done something better, that he should have prevented this. His eyes scanned the horizon and the ground below for Meg's form, mentally agreeing with Phil that she was indeed to wounded to get far, and there was no way off the island without Pegasus as Phil didn't keep a boat and he knew, or more hoped, that Hades wasn't stupid enough to swim with Meg's weakened body.

Meg meanwhile, was cursing herself from withholding what happened to her from Herc. She might not be in this situation if she had only told Herc. _Damn my pride_ she cursed. Had she any tears they would have rolled over her cheeks as she trembled in Herc's arms. She looked at the ground, joining Herc in his search and felt sick at the prospect of having to search for her own body, having to fight the temptation to just look away. He jolted suddenly, pulling Meg out of her daze as he pointed, his words lost on her as she focused through the darkness to the small silhouette below, Pegasus diving down and Hercules had leapt off the winged beast and Meg fell off, thumping onto the ground before staggering to her feet as she watched, in sickening awe, as Herc rushed towards her body screaming the name of at vile God who dared to violate her in such an intimate manner.

Herc ran, Hades hearing his voice and for a moment panicked, turning around and giving Herc a grin blaring false confidence. But his smile quickly vanished as Herc wasted no time in grabbing Meg's more corporeal form as her spirit watched, a hand fluttering to her stomach as she swore she would be ill at this odd sight, and the fact that Hades was in her body, completely taking over her.

"Hades, get out of my body." She demanded, gliding forward to her writhing form trapped in Herc's arms.

"Oh, my, Meggie-Poo you got away from the underworld. Naughty," He sneered at her, Meg fighting with a complex array of emotions she almost lost herself and swung at him, had she remember she was little more than an espier and that was her own body. Even if she could strike at Hades, she'd be feeling the results later.

"Get. Out." She knew her demands were fruitless, then she looked at Herc as if asking him what to do. She bit her lip when he shrugged, and ran at herself, seeing if her soul would reunite the same way it had when Hercules brought her back. She shut her eyes and charged, but went though herself. Perplexed, she opened her eyes and saw Hades pinned beneath her and Hercules in a panic as he held her now lifeless body. She struggled to her feet, to try and enter her own body now that it was free of that fierce deity but Hades grabbed her firmly,

"Oh, that was a mistake little Nut-Meg." She turned, looking at him with furrowed brows as he leapt to his feet, pulling her up with him, and she shivered as she realized she could feel him touching her, which got her thinking.

"Well well well Wonderbrat it looks like I have the soul of your dear sweet little Megara. I finally have my half of the bargain."

"Let her go Hades…" his voice had completely lost all its conviction as he cradled the lifeless Megara in his arms, her soul thrashing in the arms the God. "You can't kill her, the-"

"Law of the Gods? I already explained this to you Herc! You violated the natural order"

"Which my father supported! You let go of her. You really think he'll let you get away with this?" Meg thrashed, slamming her elbow back down managing to strike Hades in a rather sensitive place, causing him to drop her quickly as he swore loudly. She leapt away from him, scrambling to her feet as Hades reached for her leg again and she kicked with hre freeing slamming him hard in the face. Hercules finally snapped out of his stupor, laying Meg's form down carefully before diving to reach for her soul, pulling her away from Hades and she squirmed out of Herc's arms to try and reunite with her body, standing before herself nervously, and closed her eyes as she fell forward.

Hades let out a frustration scream, blasting fire just as Herc dove to Meg to try and protect her, the flames flying over them both as the God vanished, leaving a few trees on fire and Herc with a few nasty burns. He pulled back, gripping his singed arm then looked down,

"Megara?" Her eyes fluttered, the cold pale skin flushing pink as her heart struggled to life, finding a steady beat. Her blurry vision flicked up to Hercules, bringing a smile to her face,

"I think it worked." She croaked, Herc smiled and helped her sit up, pulling her into his arms,

"But it could change the next time you sleep or something. I have to make sure this will be permanent. And there are your injuries to tend to." He said softly, touching the bruise on her head that stretched down to her black eye, and her dress was stained with blood from her torn stitches that started trickling again as her heart finally found its steady rhythm. Meg nodded, burying her face into his chest,

"Herc will I ever be free from Hades?" The tears finally brimmed in her eyes and she could see the fading hope in his eyes. Avoiding her gaze he leaned in and kissed her before pulling back slowly.

"I promise I will not stop until you are. I'm going to bring you back to Hypocrites you need more stitches, I have to go back to the underworld-"

"No… Herc, just wait a little bit okay? Think about what you're going to do you can't just barge in there. Think about what you're going to do."

"We don't have a lot of time Meg. I can't waste time or Hades can…" His voice trailed off, his eyes flickering away from hers.

"And if you rush off now without thinking… Herc at least _think_ about what you're going to say to him!" Herc looked at her with tired eyes, sighing as he dropped his head accepting defeat.

"Okay I'll wait. But that son of a bitch is going to pay."

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Okay I didn't originally plan to stop this chapter here, but my long absences and delays have caused me to decide to break the chapter much shorter than I intended to give you guys your much anticipated update. I plan to get back to work soon to post more, and I hope you enjoy what I have here. I hope you continue to enjoy!


	16. A struggle ends

*gasp* I have returned! I'm sorry for my absence. I work 3-11pm (almost never get out on time) 32-40 hours a week so just been adjusting and admittedly procrastinating. Enjoy!

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The Within a couple hours Herc and Meg had returned to the hospital and were resting in a room with Meg stitched back up. Herc sat next to her with his head in his hands, desperate to leave for his trek to the underworld but was trying to figure out what to do ahead of time, as he had promised Meg he would do. He was interrupted from his thoughts when Hyppocrates appeared in the doorway.

"Yes Hyppocrates?" Meg chimed,

"May I speak with Megara privately for a moment?" The couple exchanged looks for a moment before agreeing. Herc stood up, sighing deeply and running a hand through his hair, "Meg I should go take care of this now, its getting late and you know what might happen…"

"Herc-"

"Meg, I know you don't want me to do this but I can't just stay here wondering what if?" He came up to her and brushed a bit of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. She reached out to grab his hand but he had turned and left too quickly,"

"Herc!" Sitting back she let out an annoyed sigh and ran her hand through her hair nervously then looked up at the doctor, having nearly forgotten he wished to speak with her.

"Megara," He started, grabbing the chair and moving it so he could face her. "This is the third time in a couple days you've been brought here, every time you've been in a terrible state. I don't know how to ask this, it's never easy, but has Hercules been hurting you?" Meg nearly choked on her own tongue as soon as she heard his question, and looked at him not sure whether to laugh or cry.

"You really think Wonderboy would even be capable of hurting another human being, let alone beat me?"

"My dear I've been a doctor for many years, and I've seen terrible things. The law doesn't care much about battered women, but if I can help I make it my mission to." At this point Meg finally did laugh; overwhelmed with the events of the last few days and now being interviewed about if Herc was beating her.

"No, he isn't. I know it looks suspicious but something has been happening to me, that's why I'm always here. And it's the reason Herc left right now, to go try to take care of the problem." Hyppocrates stared at her perplexed at her ambiguous answer.

"Does it have to do with the seizures you had last time you were here?" Meg sighed and nodded, she didn't want to explain to him her dilemma with Hades and her own soul. She was struggling with it herself, and didn't want others to know lest they judge her for getting into such a mess.

"I swear to you Herc isn't hurting me. Quite the opposite he's doing everything in his power to keep me safe. Hyppocrates decided to agree with her, he knew the great hero when he was just a teenager and he couldn't imagine him growing up to be abusive. But he had been surprised many times before by types of people who turn out to be the abusers. "Hyppocrates, you know what line of work is, I just got caught in the crossfire." The young doctor sighed, running a hand through his prematurely graying hair, settling that he had no real solid reason to believe that Hercules had indeed inflicted these wounds.

As Hercules exited the hospital he whistled for Pegasus, who was standing but a few feet away and mounted his loyal steed, knowing his destination and flew with unbridled determination. Deep into the night with the sky clouded over the looming tower cast an eerie shadow over the lifeless land where naught but sand could be seen. A directionless wind blew bitter cold as he approached, slashing through the staggering summer heat. Pegasus came to a sudden stop, his instincts forbidding him from continuing further despite the pleas of his master.

Hercules dismounted, unsheathing his sword and running forth, bursting through the ebony iron doors with little effort. The sudden chill met Hercules with startling force as he squinted and rubbed his eyes trying to adjust to the sudden darkness. Having debriding the world of Hades' filth since his youth, the Underworld in its putrid exuberance was no foreign territory to the seasoned warrior. With his eyes watering from the salty stench of sulfur and brimstone he trekked down the blind staircase to visit the only ones who could restore Meg's soul permanently to her body. As his eyes slowly adjusted to darkness, they found the doorway that lead to where the tapestry and its keepers were kept.

Hercules was incapable of logical thought as he instantly charged towards the narrow door, ducking under the low archway and proceeded to stumble down the flight of stone steps he failed to see. At the bottom Herc lay for a few moments dazed, blood trickling from fresh wounds on his forehead, elbow, and shins. His heart, struggling with the irregular tachycardic beat of the shock of falling down the steps flushed the adrenaline though his body blinding him to the pain of his wounds. Scanning around him for the path he sought old adolescent memories surged to mind as he ran through the underworld.

Through endless empty tunnels the chill in the air grew colder and thinner, the wind pouring through the narrow labyrinth of stone as the Hero began to shiver. After running for what felt like miles of unchanging scenery he emerged into a stale chamber rampant with the heavy stench of death. The tapestry lay in the center of the room, guarded only by three frail and blind figures, with but one eye to share. Charging mindlessly the Fates turned and laughed, the shortest of the three having long ago forewarned her sisters of the intrusion.

"Hercules, what brings you to visit us." She asked, laughing heavily.

"Don't toy with me."

"Considering your position you should be more polite." Clotho cackled.

"Tell me what is wrong with Megara or you-"

"will regret your silence!" Atropos mocked. "Hades wasn't kidding when he said you were stupid. Good thing you're strong or you'd be the most pathetic hero on Earth. Guess you do take after your father. It's not hard to figure out"

"Tell me."

"Why don't you just save yourself some trouble and let us finish our work. Her thread was cut, her life is a violation of the natural order!" Atropos screamed, slamming her scissors through the thread that Lachesis currently held. "We were charged with spinning the tapestry of life. Everyone is allotted a certain amount of time to live. For the tapestry to hold not everyone can live a long life! Once a thread is cut their place in the tapestry is finished, their life and death a fiber among billions." Hercules, clenched his fists, staring down at them with unbridled hatred.

"You will make an exception for Megara."

"Her time has come and gone! Every moment she lives in an abomination!" Without hesitating Hercules reached out, prying the scissors out of the Fate's hand as he tug his fingers into the socket of the writhing aged wench and pried out her eye, leaving the blind sisters in a sudden stupor, hovering the scissors over the eye.

"Atropos you fool! You think you would have learned the first time not to let someone get our eye!" Lachesis bellowed, slapping her sister across the back of head. "If I had the eye he would never have gotten it! And you had a weapon! You had your scissors! We held his life in our hands and yet you still leave us at his mercy!"

"Shut up!" Hercules screamed, his hand trembling as the tattered blade hovered over the dripping eye, staring at the three sisters. "You have three seconds to tell me what is wrong with Meg and fix her before you lose your eye and are doomed to a blind eternity, never again to know the future!"

"You have no idea what disruptions your insolence will cause! You violate not only the laws of the Gods but the laws of the Cosmos itself!"

"I don't care." Herc lifted his hand and began to bring it down when the three sisters screamed,

"Fine!" Atropos shouted, not ready to part with her seers eye. "When her thread was cut we meant it when we said her thread was severed. When her body was reunited with her soul we had to come up with a quick fix, we tied the two thread pieces together! The pieces touched but not reattached. The ends are still frayed and broken. No amount of yelling and threatening will make those thread pieces reform!"

"Then spin her a new thread!"

"We cannot do that! Everyone gets one, gets one place in the world!"

"Her place in the world has changed! You will give her a new thread! You will spin her a new life-"

"All life starts with infancy, she is an adult now we cannot just-"

"You are the Fates! You determine life and death, everyone's place in life, their length of life. You will spin her a new thread." To prove his determination he began pushing the point of the scissors into the eye, each of the sisters recoiling in pain,

"Fine! But we cannot grant her immortality! You can end the stable cosmos but we will only give her another mortal thread, this one time! If you are stupid enough to get her killed a second time you damn well will life with it and face death like every normal mortal up there! You and your damned heritage make you think you're special, that you're entitled to whatever you want! You violate long established laws of life, fate, and the cosmos itself. Be well warned that if you do not realize your mortal stance and fall into your place you will know untoward suffering that will infect those you love most." The cryptic message fell on deaf ears, as he pulled back the pressure on the eye.

"Fix her thread. Now" Atropos looked up at Clotho,

"Well spin the damn thread before he blinds us!" Begrudgingly the fate spun a new thread, looking as fragile and dim as every thread she had spun before it, giving it to her sister to weave into the tapestry, setting her place in the cosmos for the second time,

"You got what you wanted" Atropos stated angrily, turning sharply to face the hero who handed back their beloved items. Turning silently to head back to Hyppocrates and his beloved,

"Untoward suffering if you do not accept humility! Your selfishness will bring upon pain to those you love!" Atropos tried to warn, but Hercules was overwhelmed with the joy of his success to listen to the bitter ranting of the Fates.

Returning through the twisting labyrinth and up the staircase Hercules met Pegasus at the edge of the shadow cast by the looming structure. Before he could mount Hercules felt a burning blow strike him in the back.

"You! No matter what I do you take it all back!" Another flash of fire flew through the air as the Hero ducked to the ground and wasted no time in throwing his shield at the blue diety.

"Me?! It is you who takes Hades! You took my strength under a false ruse! You murdered Megara!"

"She died from your own incompetence to fight the Cyclops!"

"You violated her in a way so sickening it makes my physically ill, you violated her body! I am merely taking back what you took through illicit means. You know I can defeat you Hades, let us be in peace."

"Never!" Hades bellowed, "You offered your life for Megara's, but you merely took her back and did not follow through with your bargain!"

"I never would have had to sacrifice my strength if you hadn't kidnapped me as a child stripping me of my Godhood." At this Hades laughed,

"Yes and if you weren't a mortal Megara would still be enslaved to me, an indentured servant with a debt that would never be paid. In fact, you pathetic sickening little lovebirds," Hades paused to shudder dramatically, "have me to thank."

"If you didn't offer to take her soul while she was in emotional turmoil she would have never been enslaved to you, she could have eventually returned to a happy life! Hades leave us now, you have no reason to attack us." Turning he left the screaming God behind, who knew it was true that there was nothing left he could do and as the Hero left he let out a piercing scream heard on Mt. Olympus itself as a cloud of fire destroyed everything within hundreds of feet.

Dazed and exhausted, Hercules staggered into the hospital after over an hour of flight and caught Megara as she dashed into his arms,

"You're bleeding!" She shouted, and got nothing but a simple smile in return,

"It's over Megara. You're safe now." She looked at him, as if she wasn't ready to believe him.

"Hades?" Herc chuckled,

"It's a long story, I think we both need to go home and get some sleep. I'll explain everything in the morning." Meg laughed a little, her eyes brimming with tears,

"I'm damn tired I could use a full nights sleep." Herc just smiled and pulled her into a deep kiss.

* * *

OOOOkay LONG delay on my part I apologize. I know this chapter was short, and had a complete dues ex machine there with the fates thing that yes I know was stolen from an existing Greek myth but I wrote myself into a corner there. I'm sorry it's so short I know I should have elaborated and detailed more but I hope you still enjoyed. I think the next chapter will be the last chapter, just an epilogue really as this storyline is pretty much over. Once this one is done I don't think I'll continue it since I have Reopened Wounds to work on. I hope this chapter was satisfactory despite how fast paced and undetailed it was!


	17. Epilogue

Well this is the epilogue. I hope you all enjoyed this fic! And pardon the long delay for this epilogue… I hope I still have people awaiting this epilogue haha. I know, its short. But its an epilogue, not a real chapter.

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It took weeks for Meg's wounds to fully heal and when they had they left bright pink scars, but the trauma to her mind was what kept her up at night, still afraid of the nightmares that would cause her to give way to an invading soul. Hercules had explained to her that the cause of the possessions had been rectified, but a part of her would not let her guard down. This fear, in time, would heal as well.

Meg, in an almost cliché manner was standing over the balcony at their villa, staring out at the garden under the shadow of the storm clouds rolling harmlessly overhead, carrying their heavy burden to an island far across the sea leaving Greece dry for at least one more night. Hercules had arrived home from another long day at work and after much searching found her out on the balcony.

"I should have known you were out here." He chuckled, "you're out here almost every night." Meg looked at him and shrugged shyly, a rather uncharacteristic gesture.

"I feel trapped inside lately. I don't know I just get creeped out by the fact that in the villa I was constantly possessed,"

"I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you I've been thinking we should move out of Thebes. I like the country better, and you don't like the villa. A lot of bad stuff has happened in this area. Maybe its time we get a fresh start out in the countryside. Or um well as good a fresh start as a celebrity demi-god and his mysterious and gorgeous love can get," he teased lightheartedly.

"Hmm… I think it's a wonderful idea." She commented kissing him as the storm overhead changed its mind and brought a deluge of rain onto the city, drenching the young couple in a matter of seconds.

Within a year Hercules announced his engagement to the mysterious auburn beauty. Their marriage and the legacy of their lives would live on for years, and it was one jealous man's forbidden crush on the Hero that would write the story of the Hero's betrayal and murder of his young family and this story would carry on through the ages while the true legacy of Greece's greatest hero would be lost. But none of this would matter to Hercules or Megara, as they cherished their five sons and had many grandchildren. After Meg passed away at a surprisingly old age of 53, Herc's demigod blood would carry him on many more years to be one of the only people in ancient years to see his first great-grandson. And when death finally caught up to him he forsake a life on Olympus to be reunited with his love in the underworld paradise, both having found a silver coin in their hand upon waking from death on the shores of the river Styx.

Hercules had carried on an amazing 30 years after Meg's death, and upon seeing his long lost love he ran to her and her to him, both having returned to their former youth, the many years had not come between them,

"Hercules… I waited so long for you." She whispered, and Hercules began to weep at the sound of her voice reaching him for the first time in three decades,

"You won't have to wait anymore."

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And I hope you enjoyed that adorably CORNY ending. I know that if you take into play average lifespan of people in ancient times Herc would probably have outlived all of his kids and would meet them in the underworld too, but they would be quarter-god so thus live longer too unless they died via sickness or injury. But lets not take that into play and just make it about the reunion of Meg and Herc. I hope you enjoyed this fanfic and please continue to be my loyal readers for when I update other fics =)


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